The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has reported a series of significant drug-related operations across Nigeria, leading to multiple arrests and substantial drug seizures.
On August 12, 2024, Paul Okwuy Mbadugha, a businessman bound for Vietnam, was apprehended at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after testing positive for cocaine ingestion.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Mbadugha, 54, was intercepted at the Qatar Airways boarding gate.
After four days under excretion observation, he expelled 88 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.710 kilograms.
Mbadugha claimed he was instructed by a friend in Isolo to swallow the drug pellets for a $2,000 fee.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport intercepted an 800-gram shipment of synthetic cannabis, known as Loud, hidden in noodles destined for Congo.
Following this, a raid at Alaba International Market led to the arrest of the sender, Nnamani Sunday Sunny, a GSM handset dealer.
Another major operation at Lagos airport saw the recovery of 65.80 kilograms of Loud from six boxes imported from Canada.
The suspect, Desalu Taophic Temitope, was arrested upon arrival on an Air France flight. Desalu claimed he and an accomplice, who remains at large, were promised $10,000 for the successful delivery of the drugs.
On August 14 and 15, 2024, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Rivers State recovered 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup valued at approximately N6.25 billion.
The bottles, packed in 5,337 cartons and weighing 133,860 kilograms, were shipped from India in five containers.
In Ekiti State, a raid on August 14 destroyed 21,800 kilograms of cannabis sativa grown on 20 hectares of farmland in the Ise forest reserve.
The following day, NDLEA officers intercepted a Sienna bus along the Onitsha-Enugu road, recovering 200.2 kilograms of cannabis and arresting the driver, Okoro Emmanuel.
Additional operations led to the arrests of Joseph Apeh and Diamond Nnabuike in Kano on August 12 with 145,400 tramadol pills, and Fidelis Egede, Samuel Sylvanus, Jato Samson, and Francis Blessing in Ogun State on August 13 for cannabis cultivation.
In Abuja, officers intercepted a truck on August 13 with 30,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection, arresting Ifeanyi Sunday, Jeremiah Paul, and Edet Ubokobong.
On August 15, arrests in Niger State and Kogi State included Ifeanyi Chukwueze with 28,500 tramadol pills and Tochukwu Onah with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection.
These operations reflect NDLEA’s ongoing efforts to combat drug trafficking and misuse in Nigeria.
