NDLEA intercepts UK, Qatar-bound cocaine, methamphetamine consignments in Lagos, Abuja
Abdullateef Fowewe
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has thwarted attempts by drug syndicates to export large consignments of cocaine, methamphetamine and opioids through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to the United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey and Qatar.
The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sundays, noted the masterminds were also arrested following the intelligence-led operations.
Babafemi confirmed that a total of 13 parcels of cocaine weighing 4.40kg cocaine going to the United Kingdom via Frankfurt on a Lufthansa Airlines flight were intercepted by NDLEA officers at the export shed of the Lagos airport on November 5, 2024, while a businessman linked to the consignment, Ekeocha Anayo Nelson, was tracked and arrested on November 8.
He said the bid by another businessman, Adegbite Solomon aka Obama to export 7,800 pills of Tramadol, 180 tablets of Rohypnol, and 60 bottles of Codeine to Italy was also foiled at the departure hall of the Lagos airport on Monday November 11, when NDLEA operatives arrested him after recovering the opioids concealed in food and other items while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Italy.
Babafemi stated that the suspect claimed to have travelled to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea and earned a living as a street beggar before delving into the logistics business.
The statement stated that another businessman, Anoke Kingsley Roomy was arrested with 1,100 pills of tramadol 225mg hidden in his luggage while attempting to board his Ethiopian Airlines flight going to Istanbul, Turkey at terminal 1 of the Lagos airport on Friday, November 15.
The statement partly reads, “Following credible intelligence, NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, and their counterparts from the FCT Command of the Agency on Friday 15th November raided a hotel room at the Federal Housing Authority estate, Lugbe, Abuja, where they arrested two suspects: Omeh Uchenna Jude, 36, and Anene Valentine Chigozie, 34. Recovered from them was 1.8kg methamphetamine, which they were preparing to travel with to Qatar.
“Another suspect, Akande Moruf Olasunkanmi, was arrested with 1.8kg methamphetamine by operatives of a Special Operations Unit in NDLEA at his 9 Durojaiye Street, Lawanson area of Surulere, Lagos home after weeks of intelligence and surveillance.
“In another intelligence-led operation, officers of an NDLEA task force on Saturday 16th November foiled the attempt by a trans-border trafficker, Emmanuel Okechukwu Okeke to smuggle 50,000 pills of tramadol 225mg from Ghana into Lagos. The pills were concealed in the body compartments of a Toyota Hummer Bus belonging to GUO Transport Company, driven by the suspect. The vehicle was intercepted at the Ijanikin area of the Lagos-Badagry expressway while coming from Ghana.”
However, the NDLEA boss, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), while commending the operatives of NDLEA for the arrests and seizures, stated that 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.
