NDLEA Uncovers Trans-border Drug Cartel, Arrests 4 

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered a trans-border drug trafficking syndicate, arresting four members in intelligence-led operations.

Also recovered during the investigation are a multi-million-naira worth of tramadol pills concealed in the bumper and false bottom of Sienna buses heading to border towns.

The sting operation followed weeks of intelligence and surveillance operations by operatives of the Directorate of Intelligence in NDLEA. On January 27, 2025, at 6 a.m., a Sienna bus marked ABJ 452 HG was intercepted at Nasarawa—Toto Road, Keffi, Nasarawa State.

Two suspects, Zahradeen Adamu, 27, and Abubakar Usman, 44, were arrested in the vehicle coming from Onitsha, Anambra State, en route to Yola, Adamawa State.

The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said a second Sienna bus driven by Abba Usman, 48, was also intercepted, and during a search of the two vehicles, specially constructed steel compartments were discovered after the removal of the back bumper where a total of 190, 960 pills of tramadol were concealed and, in the space, designed to house the spare tyre of the vehicles.

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Investigations revealed that Kingsley Mbaeri, an Onitsha, Anambra State-based dealer, was the supplier of the seized tramadol consignment. He was swiftly arrested at his Uga Street, Onitsha, home on January 29.
Also, two vehicles, a Toyota Corolla car marked FGG 948 MF and a Toyota Sienna bus marked GWA 23 HH, were recovered from his house.

In another interdiction, Intelligence Department operatives intercepted a commercial bus from Onitsha, Anambra State, at Abaji checkpoint, FCT Abuja, on February 4.

A passenger in the bus, Chimezie Henry Ojingwa, 32, carrying motor spare parts in a black bag, was arrested after he was found to have cancelled 404.47grams of methamphetamine, 506.49grams of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis and 262.32grams of dimethyl sulfone, a precursor substance for mixing meth in the motor parts.

In Cross River State, NDLEA officers on patrol along Ogoja -Abakaliki Road, Yahe, intercepted 170,000 pills of tramadol in a truck driven by Paul Chukwudi, 31, while operatives at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos on February 11, recovered 85,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup in a container imported from India.

Two suspects, Halilu Isa and Gambo Umaru, were nabbed at Bama Road, Maiduguri, Borno State, on Friday, 14 February, with 60 compressed blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 72kg.