The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted more than 1.3 million tramadol and other opioid pills and capsules, alongside about 6,000kg of cannabis, in operations across eight states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The agency said the seizures had a combined street value of over N3.4 billion, with several suspects arrested, including a 49-year-old man accused of impersonating a senior police officer to evade security checks while transporting illicit drugs.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the operations were carried out in Lagos, Edo, Niger, Delta, Ondo, Gombe and Imo States, as well as the FCT.
A major breakthrough was recorded at Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos, where operatives seized 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 603.75kg and valued at N1.811 billion. The drugs were concealed in 31 black jumbo bags inside two Toyota Sienna vehicles loaded into a 40-foot container shipped from Montreal, Canada.
In Delta State, NDLEA arrested Innocent Ekpe, 49, along the Benin-Onitsha Expressway in Asaba with 292.48kg of skunk. The agency alleged that he used a forged police identification card and posed as a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Godwin Emeka, to evade checkpoints. An alleged accomplice, Nduka Joseph, was also arrested.
In Edo, 48kg of Canadian Loud and 152g of methamphetamine were recovered from an auto-repair workshop in Benin City, where Matthew Ossai, 45, was arrested.
The agency also reported the seizure of more than 1.1 million assorted tramadol tablets and capsules, codeine syrup, methamphetamine and Exol tablets from two suspects along the Abaji-Abuja highway.
Other operations across the affected states resulted in additional seizures of cannabis, tramadol, nitrous oxide and other illicit substances, while several suspects were arrested.
The NDLEA also said four suspects were arrested during a raid on a two-hectare cannabis farm in Ondo State, where 5,000kg of cannabis plants were destroyed and 48kg of dry and fresh cannabis recovered.
Meanwhile, the agency continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation programmes in schools and communities across the country.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain intelligence-driven and balanced approaches to drug control.
