The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has uncovered and seized large consignments of cocaine and pharmaceutical opioids cleverly concealed in ladies’ sanitary pads and hair treatment cream containers destined for the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Cyprus through three courier companies in Lagos.
The agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, confirmed the interceptions in a statement released on Sunday.
Babafemi revealed that, on September 3, 2024, officers at one courier company recovered 30 parcels of cocaine weighing 1.1 kilograms concealed in hair cream containers bound for Ireland.
“Another consignment of 24 parcels of cocaine weighing 862 grams, also hidden in hair cream containers destined for the UK, was intercepted at the same company on September 6,” Babafemi stated.
In another operation on September 3, NDLEA operatives intercepted 525 pills of Tramadol 225mg and MDMA (ecstasy) hidden in ladies’ sanitary pads, en route to Cyprus. On September 4, officers also seized 200 ampoules of promethazine and pentazocine injections, concealed in food items and herbs, destined for the UK.
In a separate interception on September 6, tramadol 225mg concealed in granulated melon, which had arrived from Cameroon and was bound for South Africa, was also seized.
Meanwhile, in a joint operation at the Port Harcourt International Airport, no fewer than 550,000 tramadol pills were intercepted on September 2, in a cargo shipment from Delhi, India, in collaboration with the Nigerian Customs Service. A suspect has been arrested in connection with the seizure.
In a separate raid, NDLEA operatives, supported by the Nigerian Army, stormed three camps in the Ise-Ekiti forest reserve in Ekiti State on September 3. According to Babafemi, over 100,000 kilograms of cannabis cultivated across 51 hectares of farmland were destroyed.
“The affected settlements include Aba Saalaja with 23 hectares, Aba Paanu with 12 hectares, and Aba Arogunmatidi with 16 hectares, all within the Ise-Ekiti forest reserve,” Babafemi explained.
On September 6, NDLEA agents apprehended eight suspects in Kaduna State with various quantities of illicit drugs. Among those arrested were Bala Musa, 42, and Danladi Muhammad, 44, found with 305 kilograms of cannabis concealed in a false compartment of a J5 boxer bus.
In related operations, arrests were also made in Jigawa, Kogi, Borno, Kano, Taraba, and Osun States. Babafemi detailed that in Jigawa, a 30-year-old man, Uzairu Ya’u, was caught with 32.6 kilograms of cannabis, while in Kogi, authorities intercepted 77,300 pills of tramadol, diazepam, and exol-5, along with 1,230 bottles of codeine, from a commercial bus on September 4.
In Borno, Idris Muhammad, 40, was arrested with 13,100 tramadol pills, while in Kano, Hakilu Usman, 35, was caught with 25.8 kilograms of cannabis and 3,000 diazepam pills.
In Osun State, a raid at the home of a notorious drug dealer, identified as Mayowa Abayomi Awe, alias ‘Bishop,’ led to the seizure of 43 grams of crack cocaine, 23 grams of methamphetamine, 17.126 kilograms of cannabis, and a locally made pistol.
