Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N6.2 billion in street value. NDLEA said in a statement on Sunday that operatives recovered the drugs from five containers. It said the operation was carried out by NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers. NDLEA said this was during a joint examination of the containers with men of the Nigeria Customs and other port stakeholders on August 14 and 15. “The bottles of the opioids were packed in 5,337 cartons with a gross weight of 133,860kg and shipped in five containers from India,” he said.
In another development, NDLEA operatives supported by men of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies, as well as community youths, on August 14 raided the Ise forest reserve, Saalaja camp, Ise-Ekiti. The statement said 21,800kg of cannabis (Indian hemp) on 20 hectares of farmland were destroyed. “The following day, Aug. 15, NDLEA officers on patrol along Onitsha- Enugu road in Enugu State intercepted a Sienna bus marked SKA-24 AG. A total 200.2kg of cannabis (Indian hemp) was recovered and the driver,” it said. The NDLEA also mentioned that two people were arrested with 145,400 pills of tramadol on Aug. 12 at Gadar Tamburawa, area of Kano. The statement noted that NDLEA operatives in Ogun state on August 13 also arrested seven people when a cannabis plantation on six hectares was raided at Alaka village.
In Abuja, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Kwali-Gwagwalada expressway on Aug. 13 intercepted a truck from which 30,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection were recovered. In the same vein, NDLEA said its operatives in Niger state on August 15 arrested a man in Kontagora town with 28,500 pills of tramadol concealed in a loudspeaker and their counterparts in Kogi on August 14. It also mentioned that the NDLEA operatives also captured a man with 40,000 pills of the same opioid heading to Kontagora. Another man was arrested by NDLEA officers at Paparanda, Lokoja, with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection. (NAN)
NDLEA intercepts N6.2bn codeine consignment at Onne Port
