NDLEA Intercepts N2.1bn Codeine Syrup, Loud Consignments

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted large consignments of codeine-based syrup and Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis worth over N2,185,000,000.00 in street value at the Port Harcourt seaport, Onne, and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja.

NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement that on Friday, May 31, 2024, at the Lagos airport, NDLEA officers, with the cooperation of other security agencies, intercepted a large consignment of Loud, packed in eight suitcases, containing 320 parcels with a total weight of 164.50kg of the strong psychoactive substance coming from Canada on a KLM flight via Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The consignment, estimated to be worth N960,000,000.00, was brought in by a passenger, Ughenu Nnaife Francis. During a joint search operation by security operatives, personnel of NDLEA, Customs, and others discovered the suitcases at the airport‘s E-arrival hall. The suspect was attempting to smuggle the suitcases out of the hall.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a resident of Germany but traveled to Toronto, Canada, to transport the drug to Nigeria.

The NDLEA said during interrogation he claimed that he was recruited to convey the drug to Nigeria for an agreed fee of N6 million.

At the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, NDLEA operatives intercepted a container marked TEMU 6807401 imported from India en route to the C to C bonded terminal in Enugu on Monday, May 27.

During a joint examination of the container by NDLEA, Customs and other security agencies, 1,750 cartons of codeine weighing 26,250kg, containing 175,000 bottles of the opioid worth N1,225,000,000, in street value were discovered.

In Abuja, a 25-year-old lady, Blessing Thomas, was arrested with 1.0kg methamphetamine by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Kwali – Gwagwalada expressway on Friday, 31st May, while traveling in a commercial bus from Lagos to Yola, Adamawa State. In the same vein, operatives in Nasarawa State on Wednesday May 29, nabbed a 70-year-old grandfather, Muhammadu Ibrahim, with 57.2kg cannabis in Lafia, the state capital.

Two suspects, Suleiman Kazeem, 35, and Sunday Gbenga, 20, were arrested when NDLEA officers raided Ara forest, Ara-Ekiti in Ekiti State where they recovered 426 kilograms  of cannabis sativa already processed and packed in big sacks, while they destroyed over 4,000kg of same substance on 1.66 hectares of farmland on Thursday, May 30.