The Nationwide Drug Legislation Enforcement Company, in a collection of daring operations, has intercepted giant consignments of illicit medicine and arrested a number of suspects throughout Nigeria.
This was disclosed in an announcement signed by the company’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, and shared on the company’s web site on Sunday.
Essentially the most notable bust occurred on the Mallam Aminu Kano Worldwide Airport, the place an import and export businessman, Olisaka Chibuzo Calistus, was caught trying to smuggle 256 wraps of cocaine weighing 6 kilograms into the nation.
The company revealed that the cocaine was hid in his physique, marking the most important interception of cocaine on the Kano airport since 2006.
The assertion learn: “An try by an import and export businessman, Olisaka Chibuzo Calistus, to smuggle 256 wraps of cocaine weighing 6 kilograms into the nation via the Mallam Aminu Kano Worldwide Airport (MAKIA), Kano, has been thwarted by operatives of the Nationwide Drug Legislation Enforcement Company (NDLEA).
“The seizure, which is the one largest interception of cocaine on the Kano airport because the creation of MAKIA Command of NDLEA in 2006, was made on Sunday, 15 December 2024, in the course of the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airways flight ET 941 from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.”
One other important arrest occurred on the Murtala Muhammed Worldwide Airport in Lagos, the place an ex-convict, Olanrewaju Bada Akorede, was caught making an attempt to export a consignment of Rohypnol to South Africa.
Akorede, beforehand convicted of an identical offence, had earlier paid a positive of ₦900,000 to keep away from imprisonment.
“An identical try by an ex-convict, Olanrewaju Bada Akorede, to export a consignment of Rohypnol to South Africa via the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed Worldwide Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, was equally thwarted by NDLEA officers. The consignment was hidden in cargo containing gari, sneakers, males’s singlets, and different gadgets,” the assertion revealed.
Moreover, an Italy-based businesswoman, Cynthia Akaeen, was arrested at Lagos airport whereas trying to board a flight to Italy with 9,190 tramadol tablets weighing 6 kilograms.
The NDLEA additionally raided a warehouse in Onitsha, Anambra State, uncovering 418,330 capsules of tramadol and tapentadol, together with 8,000 bottles of codeine syrup.
In Maiduguri, Borno State, a number of operations led to the seizure of tramadol capsules, hashish, ammunition, and different psychoactive substances.
The assertion detailed extra raids in Oyo and Enugu States, in addition to a joint safety operation at Tincan Island Port, Lagos, which resulted within the interception of 180,000 bottles of codeine syrup hid in a container from India.
The NDLEA has intensified its Conflict In opposition to Drug Abuse marketing campaign, educating communities in Adamawa, Kano, and Kebbi states in regards to the risks of drug abuse via outreach programmes in colleges, spiritual centres, and workplaces.