Operatives of the National Drug Enforcement Agency have recovered illicit drugs hidden in headgear heading to Australia and nabbed a student who sells opioids to his mates.
The arrest of the student and recovery was among the successes made by operatives of the NDLEA in the last one week in its nationwide operations.
At the Port Harcourt Ports complex in Onne, Rivers State, a total of three million pills of tapentadol and carisoprodol royal 225mg worth N2.1 billion in street value were intercepted in one of the containers watch-listed by the agency based on intelligence.
The seizure was made on May 14 during a joint examination of the container by NDLEA officers, men of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
In like manner, NDLEA operatives at the Apapa seaport in Lagos May 13 intercepted another watch-listed container declared to have new car parts and accessories from India.
During a joint examination with other security agencies, a total of 169,800 bottles of codeine syrup worth over N1.1 billion in street value were discovered concealed in the shipment.
In Kwara State, no fewer than 199,200 pills of tramadol were recovered from two suspects: Abdulwahab Quadir and Abdulraheem Ismail, on May 16 following their arrest at Gegele area of Ilorin by NDLEA operatives who also raided Favour Lodge in the state capital, where a Higher National Diploma 1 student of the Department of Laboratory Science Technology, Kwara State Polytechnic, Ibrahim Oladimeji Abdulateef, was arrested with 650grams of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, already measured in 149 cups, which he sells to other students.
At a courier company in Lagos, NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation on May 16 intercepted 250grams of cocaine concealed in female headgear going to Australia.
In Niger State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Mokwa-Jebba Road on May 15 intercepted a Toyota Carina car marked AGL 945 BK conveying 316 blocks of skunk weighing 143kg, while a suspect, Idris Kamal, 35, was arrested.
The same day, operatives on patrol at Chachi Junction along Kaduna Road arrested Emmanuel Hassan, 26, with 14.3kg Loud.
A swift follow up operation led to the arrest of the actual owner of the consignment, Bello Aliyu, alias Liti, 39.
While a 60-year-old suspect, Welman Kengbo, was nabbed by NDLEA officers with 594.8kg skunk at Karu area of Nasarawa State on May 16, another suspect, Oyenuga Toheeb, was arrested along Lekki/Epe expressway, Lagos on May 15 with 67.5kg of the same psychoactive substance.
In Taraba State, 5,350 pills of tramadol and diazepam were recovered from a suspect, Shafiu Ismail, 22, when he was arrested on May 15 at Sabonlayin, Jalingo LGA, while
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Tijjani Mohammed, 35, was nabbed with 198kg skunk at Malamawa, Garki LGA, Jigawa State the same day.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Abuja-Kaduna Highway on May 16 intercepted a 29-year-old Ismail Isah with an AK-47 rifle and two magazines concealed in a sack of maize.
He will be transferred to the appropriate security agency for further investigation.
The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands equally continued across the country in the past week.
Some of them included WADA sensitisation lecture delivered to students and staff of Supreme International School, Fagge, Kano State; Al-Arifeen International Academy, Kaduna State; Nadado Primary School, Bakori, Katsina State; Ila Orangun Grammar School, Ila Orangun, Osun State; and students and staff of Government Secondary School, Onne, Rivers State.