The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, and three Nigerian accomplices in connection with the seizure of over 2.2 million tramadol pills worth ₦3.99 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
According to Director, Media and Advocacy NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja Femi Babafemi, the consignment, disguised as multivitamins and imported from Delhi, India aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight, was intercepted between September 8 and 11 after weeks of surveillance. NDLEA operatives swooped on a clearing agent and two drivers attempting to move the 114 cartons of tramadol from the airport before arresting Kumar the following day while he tried to take delivery of the shipment.
In separate operations, NDLEA officers made significant drug seizures and arrests across the country. At the Tincan Port in Lagos, operatives recovered 161 parcels of Canadian Loud cannabis weighing 81.7kg and 1.2kg of hashish oil hidden in a container of vehicle parts from Canada. Two suspects were arrested. Another 65kg consignment of Loud was later intercepted on the Third Mainland Bridge from a Toyota Sienna, with the driver taken into custody.
In Ikorodu, Lagos, a factory producing skuchies — a cocktail of cannabis and blackcurrant drink — was raided, leading to the seizure of 6,029 bottles of the psychoactive substance and 4,232kg of cannabis. The factory manager, Joy Awosika, was arrested. Similarly, two separate shipments of narcotics concealed in a picture frame and decoder machines were intercepted at courier companies in Lagos, while operatives at the airport also arrested a passenger attempting to smuggle skunk hidden in crayfish to Doha.
Other highlights include the arrest of a couple in Anambra State with 19kg of methamphetamine and skunk; the seizure of 22kg of cannabis in Yobe; the interception of 394kg of skunk in Ogun by a joint NDLEA-police-vigilante operation; and the destruction of nearly 17 tonnes of cannabis on a large plantation in Edo State.
The agency also recovered cocaine, heroin, tramadol, Akuskura and other emerging psychoactive substances during operations in Abuja, Kano, and Oyo, where several traffickers, including dispatch riders and women couriers, were arrested.
Commending the operatives of MMIA, Tincan, Lagos, Anambra, Edo, Yobe, Kano, Oyo, Ogun, and FCT Commands, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), urged officers nationwide to sustain their vigilance. He emphasized the agency’s balanced approach of enforcement and advocacy under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, which continues to sensitise schools, worship centres, motor parks and communities across the country.
