NDLEA Foils Drug Smuggling Attempts at Lagos Airport, Seizes Massive Consignments Nationwide

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have uncovered a series of desperate and sophisticated drug trafficking attempts, intercepting opioids and methamphetamine concealed in carton walls, winter jackets, and body cream containers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

 

The agency said the seizures were part of a broader nationwide crackdown that led to the recovery of large consignments of illicit substances across Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Oyo, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Taraba, and Adamawa states.

 

At the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects linked to drug shipments bound for Italy. One of them, Friday Ehianuka, 37, was intercepted on Friday, March 20, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Rome with 2,698 pills of tramadol (225mg) hidden inside containers of skin-lightening body cream in his luggage.

 

The suspect, a Milan resident, reportedly confessed he was to be paid in euros upon successful delivery.

 

In a separate operation on March 18, NDLEA officers apprehended another Italy-bound passenger, Christian Agbonhese, at the airport’s departure hall.

 

A thorough search of his luggage uncovered 28,470 pills of opioids, including tramadol and tapentadol, ingeniously concealed in two large winter jackets.

 

The agency also intercepted drug shipments at a Lagos courier facility, where parcels containing a potent strain of cannabis known as “Loud,” weighing 1kg, were discovered hidden in a carton from the United States. Another attempt to export 158 grams of methamphetamine concealed within carton walls to New Zealand was equally thwarted.

 

Beyond Lagos, NDLEA operations yielded significant seizures nationwide. In Kano State, two suspects were arrested with a combined 198kg of skunk. In Lagos, operatives recovered over 21,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup from a store in the Otto, Ijora area, while two other suspects were caught transporting 8,380 bottles on the Third Mainland Bridge.

 

 

In Edo State, officers recovered 97.5kg of skunk from a suspect’s residence in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area. Meanwhile, in the FCT, NDLEA agents intercepted a commercial bus along the Gwagwalada expressway, uncovering 91,840 tramadol pills hidden within the vehicle’s compartments, leading to the arrest of the driver.

 

Further operations in Oyo State led to the arrest of a suspect with 71.2kg of skunk smuggled through the Oyan River from the Benin Republic. In Kaduna, authorities seized no fewer than 586,000 pills of tramadol and exol-5 along the Kaduna-Zaria highway, alongside additional arrests.

 

Similarly, in Taraba State, operatives intercepted over 77,000 tramadol capsules along the Takum-Jalingo highway, while in Adamawa, six suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure of 82.8kg of tramadol in Yola.

 

The NDLEA noted that its commands across the country also intensified drug abuse prevention campaigns under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, targeting schools, workplaces, and communities.

 

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), commended officers involved in the operations and urged sustained commitment to a balanced approach combining enforcement and public sensitisation in the fight against drug abuse.