The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in specially fabricated compartments of two articulated trucks heading to Kano, in what it described as a major breakthrough against a transnational drug trafficking syndicate.
The agency disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the statement, the intelligence-led operation followed the seizure of 558,900 tramadol (250mg) pills recovered from another truck on the same route barely a week earlier, bringing the total number of tramadol pills intercepted from the syndicate in recent operations to more than 2.18 million.
Babafemi said the first truck was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while travelling to Kano. A search of the vehicle uncovered 853,000 tramadol (250mg) pills concealed in a specially fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor, leading to the arrest of the driver.
Two days later, on July 4, NDLEA operatives intercepted a second articulated truck on the same expressway, also bound for Kano. Officers recovered another 777,000 tramadol (250mg) pills hidden in a similar compartment beneath the trailer’s cargo floor and arrested the driver.
According to the agency, investigations revealed that the three trucks intercepted on June 21, July 2 and July 4 were linked to the same transnational drug trafficking network allegedly smuggling illicit drugs from Togo through the Benin Republic into Nigeria.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, intercepted two consignments of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, with a combined weight of 4.7 kilograms.
The consignments, which arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on June 24 and July 3, were concealed in cartons labelled “Odugwu.”
The agency said investigations led to the arrest of cargo agents linked to the shipments, as well as another suspect who attempted to collect the consignments from a logistics company.
Further investigations, carried out in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, also resulted in the arrest of the suspected owner of the illicit drugs.
