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 opioid pills in coordinated operations across several states.
The agency also arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly returned to the illicit drug trade after serving a five-year prison sentence.
Large consignments of tramadol, methamphetamine, cocaine, codeine and other psychotropic substances were also seized in Lagos, Adamawa, Ondo, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu states.
The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, saying the operations were carried out over the past week as part of the agency’s intensified War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign.
In Lagos, operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) arrested 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, who allegedly masterminded a 1.2kg cocaine shipment intercepted on 31 July.
The cocaine, concealed inside 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, 4 September, while allegedly posing as a herbal tea businessman.
The suspect reportedly admitted masterminding previous drug shipments and said he discarded his SIM card after learning that his latest consignment had been intercepted.
The NDLEA said investigations revealed that Ebubechukwu had previously been arrested by the agency.
He was reportedly arrested in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, after allegedly ingesting 900g of cocaine and 130g of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria.
He was subsequently prosecuted and sentenced to five years in prison before allegedly changing his name and returning to drug trafficking.
A search of his residence in Ejigbo, Lagos, reportedly led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those allegedly used to conceal the intercepted cocaine. Their internal components had been removed to create space for the drugs.
Also in Lagos, NDLEA operatives at the airport recovered 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, valued at more than N1.1 billion.
The drugs were concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment shipped from Pakistan.
Operatives also recovered 57.8kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, valued at more than N173 million. The substance was concealed in cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore.
The consignment had reportedly remained unclaimed for weeks before a joint examination by the NDLEA, Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
In Ondo State, 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 uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg.
The cannabis was allegedly hidden alongside the tanker’s legitimate fuel cargo, which was being transported to Jos, Plateau State.
At the Lagos seaport, NDLEA operatives also intercepted 598.08kg of cannabis-laced cookies and gummies packed in 890 packets inside a 40-foot container.
The seizure was linked to three suspects identified as Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi and Joseph Moji.
The trio had earlier been arrested following the seizure of 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies at the Tincan Port.
The latest seizures form part of the NDLEA’s ongoing nationwide crackdown on the trafficking and distribution of illicit drugs.
