Illicit drugs discovered at shrine, underground storage in Lagos
Abdullateef Fowewe
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the weekend uncovered illicit substances at the Igbo-Igunuko shrine located at Alfa Beach in Ajah as well as underground storage in Lekki areas of Lagos.
The illicit substance suspected to be Ghanaian Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 2,760kg was recovered on Friday and two suspects, identified as Gbenga Abiodun and Sunday Abiodun arrested, NDLEA stated in a statement on Sunday by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi.
Babafemi noted that a total of 11,786 pills of tramadol, molly, Rohypnol and diazepam, as well as 64 bottles of codeine syrup were recovered from underground storage that one Muhammad Warnos Abdullahi dug in his bedroom at Marwa Coastal Road, Lekki Phase 1 Lagos.
The statement reads partly, “A total of 2,118 pills of tramadol concealed in soles of 13 pairs of shoes going to Cyprus were seized at the export shed of the Lagos airport on 12th October 2024 and additional 380 tablets recovered from the home of the sender, Okenwa Kelvin Uchenna during a follow up operation in Enugu on Thursday 24th October. A cash of N968,880 and a Toyota Avalon car marked UWN 389 AS, were also recovered from the suspect at the time of his arrest.
“Not less than 293 ampoules of promethazine and pentazocine injection as well as 1.690kg cannabis and tramadol tablets concealed in hair attachments and soles of shoes going to the United States, United Kingdom and Oman were intercepted at three courier firms by NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, in Lagos on Thursday 24th October.”
Babafemi stated that other illicit consignments intercepted during the joint inspection of the containers include 10 million tablets of Toradol Benzhexol and 28 plastic drums of methamphetamine weighing 700kg at Tincan and Onne respectively, while 56 parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 28kg were also recovered from a container that arrived at the Lagos port from Canada.
“A suspect, Tsolaye Eburajolo, 40, was arrested at Ago Palace area of Okota Lagos in connection with the cannabis seizure while a bribe of N10million paid to NDLEA officers to free the suspect has been kept as part of the exhibits for the prosecution of the case,” the statement added.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the agency’s operatives, emphasising their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated.
