The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted large consignments of opioids and other illicit drugs concealed in building materials in a coordinated nationwide crackdown that led to multiple arrests across several states, including a 75-year-old man and four female traffickers.
According to the Agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr.bFemi Babafemi, the breakthrough in Taraba State followed credible intelligence which exposed a truck loaded with building materials from Onitsha heading to Jalingo.
Operatives intercepted the vehicle at the Nukkai Timber Shade and uncovered a massive cache of drugs hidden beneath the cargo.
A 22-year-old suspect, Buhari Abdullahi, was arrested with over 320,000 capsules of tramadol, hundreds of ampoules of pentazocine, thousands of rohypnol tablets, and nearly 300 bottles of codeine-based syrup.
In Ebonyi State, operatives arrested a 75-year-old man, Okebe Samuel, in Okposi with 300 grams of skunk allegedly packaged for retail distribution, underscoring the agency’s position that age offers no shield from enforcement.
In Imo State, a raid on a drug hub in Orlu led to the arrest of Chioma Okeke, 32, with eight kilograms of skunk.
In Edo State, sustained operations across Benin City resulted in the arrest of four traffickers, including three women, with various quantities of skunk, Loud, methamphetamine, and other psychotropic substances recovered from different locations.
While in Kano State, operatives arrested a 19-year-old suspect in Madobi with 40 blocks of skunk weighing about 38 kilograms, while in Gombe State, a 28-year-old man was intercepted with 15,000 capsules of tramadol near Tumfure.
The NDLEA says the operations form part of intensified efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks nationwide and disrupt the supply chain of illicit substances across Nigeria.
Reporting By Nosa Aituamen