Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted no fewer than 2,684,900 pills of tramadol and seized other pharmaceutical opioids during interdiction operations in some states in the past week.
The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement, said 250,000 pills of tramadol and exol-5 and 1800ml of codeine neatly concealed in the reserve fuel tank of a trailer from Onitsha, Anambra, were seized in Mubi, Adamawa.
He said a dealer, Hussaini Ibrahim (a.k.a Bafu), was arrested in connection with the seized drugs.
He also said a total of 279,000 pills of tramadol 200mg and 225mg were recovered from a suspect, Hammajan Suleman, along the Okene-Abuja highway in Kogi, on February 13.
He added that 376 blocks of skunk weighing 229.36kgs and a Toyota Camry car used in conveying the consignment from Edo en route to Kano by another suspect, Moses Alabi, were handed over to NDLEA.
This, he said, was done by a patrol team of the Nigerian Army in Lokoja on February 14.
In the same vein, two suspects: Christian Nnachor, 23, and Chinonso Obiora, 20, were arrested with 1,843,900 tablets of Diazepam and 300,000 pills of Exol-5 by soldiers along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.
Mr Babafemi said they were transferred to the Kaduna State Command of NDLEA on February 13, while Christopher Maduka, 43, was arrested with 10,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection on Saturday, along Abuja-Kaduna highway.
“In Kano, Ahmed Suraj Rabiu was nabbed with 89 bottles of codeine syrup in the Badawa area of the state, while Amadu Musa and three others were arrested in Kofar Mata with 53 blocks of cannabis weighing 41.9kgs.
“In Niger, a trans-border trafficker, Abdullahi Isah, was arrested along Jebba-Mokwa highway with 188 blocks of skunk that weighed 107 kilogrammes, which he was attempting to take to the Niger Republic.
“Twenty-four kilogrammes of Arizona variant of cannabis and 2,000 pills of opioids were recovered from Ibrahim Isiyaku along Nguru- Kano road in Yobe,” he said.
Mr Babafemi said no fewer than four suspects: Usman Abubakar, a Chadian; Muhammad Ali, Ibrahim Yahaya, and Babagana Abdullahi were arrested for drug trafficking.
He said the suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure of 61.45kgs of cannabis and 22.1kgs of exol-5 in Jigawa with follow-up operations in Kano.
“The consignments were ordered by Usman with a view to taking them to Chad,” he said.
NAN