Anti-narcotic Agency intercepts N5billion opioids, arrests drug kingpins
By Salihu Ali, Abuja
In its weekly operations, Nigeria’s Anti-narcotic Agency, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA, has busted a drug cartel in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos, South West Nigeria and seized opioids pills worth over Five Billion Naira (N5billion) in a warehouse.
Two drug kingpins were arrested in the operations.
Spokesperson of the agency Mr Femi BabaFemi disclosed this in a press statement on Sunday.
He said operatives of the Agency also dismantled a clandestine skooches laboratory in a remote part of Sagamu, Ogun state with several equipment and large quantities of abuse substances intercepted on Saturday 14th January 2023.
The equipment he noted were to be used to produce mass dangerous new psychoactive substance.
BabaFemi explained that, the Illicit drugs recovered from the warehouse includes, “Three Million, Two Hundred and Sixty-Four Thousand, Six Hundred and Thirty (3,264,630) pills of tramadol, Three Thousand, Four Hundred and Ninety (3,490) bottles of codeine and Nine Hundred and Fifteen Thousand (915,000) capsules of pregabalin 300mg”.
According to BabaFemi, the recoveries came on the heels of the arrest of a suspect, Olarenwaju Lawal Wahab, who distributes for the cartel same day where over fourteen thousand bottles of codeine syrup and thousands of Tramadol pills meant for distribution were recovered in his white Mercedes distribution bus.
Meanwhile in Abuja, operatives of the FCT Command of the Agency on Thursday 12th January raided the notorious Tora bora hills in the federal capital city and recovered 350.7kgs of skunk and 794 bottles of codeine hidden under rocks.
The NDLEA’S spokesperson also disclosed that, operatives of the agency recovered hard drugs at Dawo village, Kaga LGA, Borno State North East Nigeria, in conjunction with Hunters group, based on intelligence from the State Command of NDLEA.
Similar arrests and recoveries were made in Ondo, Enugu, Katsina, and Edo States.
Reacting on the seizures, the Chief Executive of NDLEA, Retired Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa while commending the officers and men of the affected commands for the arrests and seizures, charged them and their compatriots across the country to sustain the heat on drug cartels in Nigeria while balancing their efforts on supply reduction with drug demand reduction activities.
