The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dealt a significant blow to cross-border drug trafficking syndicates, arresting six leaders and recovering billions of naira worth of cocaine and opioids. According to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, the agency’s operatives smashed two major syndicates after months of intelligence gathering and surveillance.
“The cross-border syndicates, which comprise Nigerians based in Mubi, Adamawa state; Onitsha, Anambra state, and Lagos state as well as Cameroonians, came under NDLEA radar after they were suspected of being major suppliers of drugs to terror groups operating in Nigeria and Cameroon,” Babafemi said.
The leaders of the syndicates arrested include Ibrahim Bawuro, Najib Ibrahim, Ibrahim Umar, Nelson Udechukwu Anayo, Ezeh Amaechi Martin, and Adejumo Elijah Ishola. NDLEA operatives recovered 276,500 pills of tramadol from a Toyota Avensis saloon car abandoned by Bawuro and Najib on the Jalingo-Yola expressway.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted 31,750,000 pills of 240mg Voltron, a controlled opioid, concealed in a container imported from India at the Apapa seaport in Lagos. The discovery was made during a joint examination with Customs Service and other security agencies.
Other arrests and seizures were made in Kwara, Abuja, Plateau, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, and Ondo states, with significant quantities of cannabis, tramadol, and codeine syrup recovered.
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Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of the agency for their efforts, saying, “NDLEA Commands continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization lectures and advocacy visits to worship centres, schools, workplaces, palaces of traditional rulers and communities all through the past week.”