The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 338,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth more than N1,190,168,200.00 in street value in two containers watch-listed by the agency following processed intelligence.
The illicit consignments were discovered during NDLEA operatives, customs, and other security agencies’ joint examination of the containers on Thursday, January 9th, and Friday, January 10th, 2025, at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State.
Also, following intelligence, the NDLEA intercepted a 40ft trailer load of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 2,217.6 kilograms, while being distributed into six vehicles at an abandoned fuel station in Kagini, Kubwa area of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja, for onward distribution to some Northern states.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi confirmed this. The intelligence-led operation, which took place at 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, January 11, 2025, led to the seizure of not only the large illicit consignment but also the trailer and six vehicles: a Toyota Van, a Toyota Camry car, a Toyota Sienna bus, a JAC 4-wheel-drive Hilux truck, a Toyota Corolla car, and a Vento Passat car. A suspect, 42-year-old Isaac Monday Desmond, was also arrested.
An investigation revealed that the consignment had been loaded into the trailer at Uzebba in the Owan local council area of Edo State.
In another raid in the FCT, two suspects, Anthony Nnamdi, 42, and Abba Ali, 27, were arrested by NDLEA officers at Nyanya, where a combined 1.398kg cocaine and a precursor substance used in preparing crack cocaine were recovered from them.
Also, no fewer than 20 wraps of cocaine weighing 330 grams have been recovered from a cargo going to Australia at a logistics firm in Lagos by officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, in NDLEA.
The cocaine parcels were concealed around the body of face cream containers in the shipment.
In Lagos, the traditional chief priest of the Igunuko shrine, Alpha beach Ajah Lekki, where 2,760kg skunk was recovered on October 25, 2024, Bariu Aliu (alias Malo) has been arrested by NDLEA operatives after over three months of manhunt for him.
“Though two of his accomplices were arrested at the shrine last year and had since been charged and convicted in court, Bariu was said to be the syndicate’s leader,” Babafemi added.
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