The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has confirmed the interception of over 24, 311 kilograms of heroin, codeine, Arizona, and Colorado variants of cannabis in fresh drug busts at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Ikeja, and the Tincan seaport, Apapa, Lagos state.
Femi Babafemi who is the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, disclosed this. He said the first seizure was on Friday, September 3, at the SAHCO export shed of the MMIA where two consignments containing 10.350kg heroin and 25.2kg cannabis from South Africa were intercepted.
In series of sting operations between September 4 and 6, in different parts of Lagos, four suspects were arrested including Mrs. Bello Kafayat Ayo who was picked from Shino Street, in the Palmgroove area of the state.
At the Tincan seaport, Apapa, narcotic officers intercepted a 40ft container loaded with 22,590 kilograms of Barcadin Codeine syrup on Monday, September 6, following intelligence received from international partners on the container since May 2021.
The container was also found to include 4,020.03kg of analgesic tablets and 47 cartons of insulated hot pots used to conceal the illicit drugs, all imported from India. Equally, on Friday, September 10, a consignment of Colorado weighing 17.5kg and hidden inside a Grand Caravan Dodge vehicle shipped in a 40ft container from Montreal, Canada, was also intercepted and seized at the Tincan port,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, a 20-year-old identified as Bee Okoro has been arrested in Abuja for producing and selling drugged candies and cookies.
In Edo State, a total of 1,425.2 kilograms of compressed blocks of cannabis sativa were seized in a raid on Aviosi outskirt, close to Uzebba, Owan West LGA, on Monday, September 6, while on the same day one Yahaya Mamman was nabbed along the Zaria-Danja road, Kaduna with 10.3kg Tramadol and 60.5kg Exol-6.
Also, NDLEA operatives in Kwara State on Tuesday, September 7 arrested a 36-year-old lady, Yusuf Sherifat, who recently completed a jail sentence following her conviction by a Federal High Court in Ilorin for dealing in 22 grams of crack cocaine.
Her latest arrest along Specialist Hospital Road, Alagbado, Ilorin, followed intelligence that she has resumed the sale of crack cocaine in the Ilorin metropolis.
According to him, the series of arrests and seizures across the country further affirm NDLEA’s zero tolerance for production, trafficking, and abuse of any illicit substance, warning that drug dealers who are yet to have a change of heart must be ready to contend with the new NDLEA.