Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker fitted with a concealed compartment containing 2,145kg of cannabis and recovered more than two million pills of opioids in coordinated operations
The agency also arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly returned to the illicit drug trade after serving a five-year jail term, while large consignments of tramadol, methamphetamine, cocaine, codeine and other psychotropic substances were seized in Lagos, Adamawa, Ondo, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu states
The NDLEA, in a statement by its Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, yesterday, said the operations were conducted during the past week as part of its intensified War Against Drug Abuse (WADA)
In Lagos, operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) arrested 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, who allegedly masterminded an illicit drug shipment intercepted on July 31
The 12kg cocaine consignment, concealed in phone chargers and destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was intercepted at a courier company in Lagos.
According to the agency, Ebubechukwu was arrested during a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, Ojo, Lagos, on Friday, September 4, while allegedly posing as a herbal tea businessman
The suspect reportedly admitted masterminding previous drug shipments and said he discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that his latest consignment had been intercepted
The NDLEA said its investigation also established that the suspect was not new to the agency
He was first arrested in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, after allegedly ingesting 900 grams of cocaine and 130 grams of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria
He was prosecuted and sentenced to five years in prison before allegedly changing his name and returning to the illicit drug trade
A search of his residence at Ejigbo, Lagos, led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those allegedly used to conceal the intercepted cocaine, with their internal components removed to create space for drugs
Also in Lagos, NDLEA operatives at the airport recovered 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, valued at more than N11 billion, concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment from Pakistan.
They also recovered 578kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis valued at more than N173 million, concealed in cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore.
The consignment had remained unclaimed for weeks before a joint examination by NDLEA, Customs and other security agencies
In Ondo State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker, marked MKA 960 XC, along the Akoko/Lokoja Expressway on Friday
The driver reportedly refused to stop when flagged down before abandoning the tanker at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fleeing into the bush
A search of the vehicle revealed a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg, alongside its legitimate fuel cargo destined for Jos, Plateau State
At the Lagos seaport, the agency also intercepted 59808kg of cannabis-laced cookies and gummies packed in 890 packets inside a 40-foot container.
The seizure was linked to three suspects—Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi and Joseph Moji—who were earlier arrested over the seizure of 84254kg of cannabis-laced cookies at the Tincan Port.