The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a suspected cocaine trafficker accused of coordinating drug shipments to Saudi Arabia and intercepted a fuel tanker loaded with more than two tonnes of cannabis in separate operations across the country.
The agency also announced the recovery of millions of opioid tablets and other illicit drugs in coordinated operations conducted in several states.
NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said on Sunday that operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) arrested 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu following an intelligence-led investigation into a cocaine shipment intercepted in Lagos.
According to Babafemi, the investigation began after 1.2kg of cocaine concealed inside phone chargers and destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was intercepted at a courier company in Lagos on July 31.
Ebubechukwu was subsequently arrested in a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, in the Ojo area of Lagos, on Friday.
The suspect allegedly admitted coordinating previous drug shipments and told investigators that he discarded his SIM card after learning that the latest consignment had been intercepted.
The NDLEA said further investigation revealed that Ebubechukwu had previously been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, in 2011 after allegedly ingesting 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria.
He was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, according to the agency.
The NDLEA alleged that he later changed his name before returning to illicit drug trafficking.
A search of his residence in Ejigbo, Lagos, also led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those allegedly used to conceal the intercepted cocaine. The chargers had reportedly been modified by removing their internal components to create space for drugs.
Fuel tanker loaded with 2.1 tonnes of cannabis intercepted
In Ondo State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker allegedly fitted with a concealed compartment for transporting illicit drugs.
The agency said the tanker, with registration number MKA 960 XC, was intercepted along the Akoko/Lokoja Expressway on Friday after its driver allegedly refused to stop.
The driver reportedly abandoned the tanker at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko before fleeing into the bush.
A search of the vehicle uncovered 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg, concealed alongside its legitimate fuel cargo reportedly destined for Jos, Plateau State.
Nearly one million Tramadol tablets seized at Lagos airport
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives recovered 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, valued at more than N1.1 billion.
The tablets were allegedly concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment imported from Pakistan.
Operatives also recovered 57.8kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis estimated to have a street value of more than N173 million. The substance was concealed inside cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore that had remained unclaimed for weeks.
The NDLEA said the seizures were made during a joint examination involving its officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on Thursday.
At the Tincan Port in Lagos, another 598.08kg of cannabis was intercepted in a 40-foot container. The consignment comprised 890 packets of cannabis-laced cookies and gummies.
The seizure followed the arrest of three suspects — Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi and Joseph Moji — in connection with an earlier seizure of 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies.
More seizures across states
In Adamawa State, the NDLEA recovered 864,000 opioid tablets, including Tramadol, from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect, Patrick KC Frank, in the Damilu and Jambutu areas of Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area.
The agency said Frank escaped after his Honda Civic rammed into an NDLEA patrol vehicle.
In Michika, operatives arrested 35-year-old Calistus Ebubechukwu, whom the agency described as a major methamphetamine supplier from Lagos to the Mubi and Michika axis. He was allegedly found with 2kg of methamphetamine.
Also in Adamawa, Attahiru Hussaini was intercepted at the Namtari checkpoint in Mubi with 750,027 Tramadol tablets and other opioids, allegedly concealed in a Ford Galaxy bus loaded with soap and marked JJM-953XD.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives recovered 2,386.9kg of cannabis, 350 grammes of cocaine, more than 100kg of assorted Tramadol, 9.7 litres of codeine syrup and 4kg of Rohypnol at Gbaji.
Two suspects, Damilare Francis and Emeh Emmanuel, were also arrested in the Agbara area with 720kg of cannabis.
In Kogi State, three suspects — Saidu Mustapha, 35; Zaharadeen Salisu, 29; and AbdulSalam Abdullahi, 25 — were arrested with 636kg of cannabis allegedly concealed in chicken manure aboard a bus travelling from Owo, Ondo State, to Jos, Plateau State.
In Taraba State, 58-year-old Kelechi Unachukwu was arrested along the Zaki-Biam Road in Wukari Local Government Area with more than 109kg of assorted pharmaceutical drugs, including Tramadol, Diazepam, Pentazocine, Phenobarbital, Exol-5, Nitrazepam, Bromazepam and Pregabalin.
The drugs were allegedly being transported in his Toyota Corolla, marked KUJ-333BT, from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Yola, Adamawa State.
In Kaduna State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a truck carrying bags of cement along the Zaria-Kano Expressway and recovered 1,179kg of skunk.
In Bauchi State, 25-year-old Hamza Dahiru was arrested in a follow-up operation after 322.5kg of cannabis was seized in Deba town, Gombe State, on September 1.
In Ekiti State, two suspects, Chuks Alex, 50, and Asafa Adekunle, 35, were arrested after NDLEA operatives uncovered and destroyed a four-hectare cannabis farm in the Efon-Alaaye forest. The operation also resulted in the recovery of 117kg of harvested cannabis.
In Enugu State, 20-year-old Obinna David was arrested at Ugbema Junction with 40,590 capsules of Tramadol on Saturday.
The NDLEA said its commands and formations also continued with its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities across the country.
The agency’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers of the DOGI, MMIA, Ondo, Tincan, Lagos, Adamawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu commands for what he described as professional and intelligence-driven operations.
Marwa urged the officers to sustain the agency’s drug-control efforts, warning that traffickers attempting to evade detection by adopting new identities or operating behind legitimate businesses would continue to be tracked down.
