NDLEA Uncovers N3.9bn Tramadol Smuggling Syndicate, Arrests Indian Businessman and Three Nigerians at Lagos Airport
NDLEA Uncovers N3.9bn Tramadol Smuggling Syndicate, Arrests Indian Businessman and Three Nigerians at Lagos Airport
NDLEA has intercepted 2.2 million tramadol tablets concealed as multivitamins, arresting an Indian importer and three Nigerian accomplices.
According to the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the consignment—valued at N3.99 billion—arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, last Monday aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Delhi, India. The shipment, packed in 114 cartons, was tracked under surveillance until Thursday, when operatives arrested a clearing agent and two drivers attempting to move it in two trucks. A follow-up operation on Friday led to the arrest of the Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, when he came to claim the cargo.
In separate operations at the Lagos airport, NDLEA officers seized 900 grammes of cannabis hidden in crayfish from the luggage of a Qatar Airways passenger, Onyeganochi Ifeanyi, heading to Doha. His confession led to the arrest of an accomplice, Ohadiegwu Uchenna, and the recovery of more drugs from his hotel room.
At the Tincan Port in Lagos, operatives confiscated 161 parcels of Canadian Loud (81.7kg) and 1.2kg of hashish oil concealed in a container of vehicle spare parts from Canada, leading to two arrests. Another 65kg of Canadian Loud was intercepted on the Third Mainland Bridge, with the driver, Abubakar Ibrahim, taken into custody.
In Ikorodu, NDLEA uncovered an illegal factory producing “skuchies”—a mixture of cannabis and blackcurrant drink—recovering over 6,000 bottles and 4,232kg of cannabis, while the factory manager, Joy Awosika, was arrested.
Similar crackdowns were carried out in Abuja, Kano, Oyo, Anambra, Yobe, Ogun, and Edo states, where large quantities of cannabis and other narcotics were seized, and suspects apprehended. In Edo, operatives destroyed a 16.9-tonne cannabis plantation spanning nearly seven hectares.
Applauding the officers for their nationwide efforts, NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), encouraged them to maintain a “balanced approach” in combating drug trafficking, combining enforcement with public sensitisation under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative.
