Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted 31,124,600 pills of tramadol 225mg and bottles of codeine-based syrup valued at approximately N18 billion at the Port Harcourt and Apapa seaports.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the seizures were made at Port Complex Onne in Rivers State and Tincan seaports in Apapa, Lagos, following intelligence on shipments originating from India. This led to a joint examination of the watch-listed containers by the NDLEA, Nigerian Customs Service, and other security agencies.
At Tincan port, Lagos, 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from two containers, each containing 175,000 bottles. In Port Harcourt’s Port Complex Onne, NDLEA operatives seized 447 cartons of tramadol 225mg containing 29,840,000 pills and 380,000 bottles of codeine syrup from three containers. The tramadol was found under various brand names including Royal Tapentadol, Carisoprodol 225mg, and Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride 225mg.
Additional seizures at Onne, Rivers, and Tincan in Lagos included 3,030 cartons of codeine syrup containing 554,600 bottles, bringing the total to 1,284,600 bottles worth N8.99 billion in street value. The combined tramadol seizures were valued at N8.94 billion.
Babafemi also reported the arrest of a suspect, Eze Emekan, at Port Harcourt International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, with 1,490 pills of tramadol disguised as cosmetics in his luggage.
In a separate incident, wanted ex-beauty queen Ms. Aderinoye Queen Christmas, who had been in hiding for about eight months, surrendered to the Lagos Command of the agency. She had been declared wanted after NDLEA operatives raided her residence in Lekki, Lagos, recovering 606 grams of Canadian Loud, an electronic weighing scale, drug packaging materials, and other items.
In other operations, NDLEA seized 1,122 kilograms of cannabis from a suspect, Mustapha Ibrahim, in Ajah, Lagos. In Niger State, a suspect, Friday Gabriel, was arrested with 1,900 capsules of tramadol, 300 bottles of codeine syrup, and 600 packets of exol-5 tablets. In Bauchi State, two suspects were arrested with 246.4 kilograms of cannabis concealed in a J5 bus.
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the agency’s officers for their vigilance and professionalism, as well as the support received from port stakeholders, in the successful execution of these operations.
