By Milcah Tanimu

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Nigeria has successfully conducted operations against three major drug cartels, leading to the recovery of 14,481,519 pills of Tramadol and bottles of codeine syrup with an estimated street value of over N13 billion.

According to NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the operations began with a raid on House 8/10 Hon. Wahuha Avenue in the Divine Estate, Ago Palace area of Amuwo Odofin on October 29. During this operation, law enforcement officers recovered 490,000 pills of Tramadol and 81,519 bottles of codeine syrup measuring 4,510,000 milliliters.

A similar operation on October 31 led NDLEA operatives to a secret warehouse operated by a billionaire Idumota trader, Nwaoha Anayo, in the Onitire area of Surulere, where 12,700,000 pills of Tramadol were seized.

Additionally, NDLEA arrested at least six members of a syndicate that was using their official cover to facilitate the smuggling of illicit drugs through the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) warehouse at Lagos airport into the country. This operation spanned several weeks and resulted in the seizure of 1,210,000 pills of Tramadol. Three other suspects are now on the run and wanted by NDLEA.

Furthermore, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 50-year-old businessman, Nwokolo Anthony, during the outward clearance of Air France flight AF 878 to Amsterdam, Netherlands via Paris, France. A body scan of the suspect revealed that he had ingested illicit drugs. Anthony, who had traveled from Lagos to board the flight, excreted a total of 86 pellets of heroin weighing 1.330 kilograms during his observation period.

These successful operations are part of NDLEA’s efforts to combat drug trafficking and the proliferation of opioids in Nigeria.