By Joke Kujenya
A 54-YEAR-old businessman, Paul Okwuy Mbadugha, was arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The arrest occurred on Monday, August 12, 2024, as he attempted to board a Qatar Airways flight bound for Hanoi, Vietnam, via Doha.
NDLEA operatives discovered Mbadugha had ingested 88 wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.710 kilograms.
He was held under observation for four days, during which he expelled the drug pellets.
Mbadugha claimed he was promised $2,000 by a friend in Isolo, Lagos, for delivering the cocaine to Vietnam.
In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, NDLEA officers intercepted 800 grams of Loud, a potent strain of synthetic cannabis.
The drug was concealed in a noodle shipment bound for Congo.
A follow-up operation at Alaba International Market in Lagos led to the arrest of Nnamani Sunday Sunny, the sender, who deals in GSM handsets.
NDLEA officers also recovered a significant consignment of Loud imported from Canada at the Lagos airport.
The suspect, Desalu Taophic Temitope, was arrested after arriving on an Air France flight.
A joint security inspection of his six suitcases revealed 65.80 kilograms of the psychoactive substance in four of the cases.
Desalu confessed he was promised $10,000 for the successful delivery of the drugs in Lagos.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives seized 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Rivers State.
The shipment, with a street value of N6.2 billion, was concealed in five containers shipped from India.
The bottles were packed in 5,337 cartons with a gross weight of 133,860 kilograms.
The seizure was made during a joint inspection with Nigeria Customs and other port officials on August 14 and 15, 2024.
In another operation, NDLEA officers, supported by the Nigerian Army and local youths, raided a 20-hectare cannabis farm in Ise-Ekiti, Ekiti State, on August 14, 2024.
The team destroyed 21,800 kilograms of cannabis sativa. The following day, officers intercepted 200.2 kilograms of cannabis from a Sienna bus on the Onitsha-Enugu road in Enugu State.
The driver, Okoro Emmanuel, 41, was arrested.
NDLEA operatives in Kano arrested two suspects, Joseph Apeh, 45, and Diamond Nnabuike, 21, with 145,400 tramadol pills on August 12, 2024, at Gadar Tamburawa.
In Ogun State, officers raided a six-hectare cannabis plantation in Alaka village on August 13, 2024, arresting four suspects, including a 70-year-old man, Fidelis Egede.
Further operations in Abuja on August 13, 2024, led to the interception of a truck on the Kwali-Gwagwalada expressway.
Officers seized 30,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection and arrested three suspects: Ifeanyi Sunday, Jeremiah Paul, and Edet Ubokobong.
In Niger State, officers arrested Ifeanyi Chukwueze in Kontagora town on August 15, 2024, with 28,500 tramadol pills hidden in a loudspeaker.
Another suspect, Abba Yakubu, was arrested on August 14, 2024, in Kogi State with 40,000 tramadol pills destined for Kontagora.
On August 15, 2024, NDLEA officers in Lokoja, Kogi State, arrested Tochukwu Onah, 39, with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection at Paparanda.
Throughout the week, NDLEA commands across Nigeria continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign. Officers conducted sensitization lectures and advocacy visits to schools, workplaces, traditional rulers, and communities.
These efforts include visits to the College of Nursing Science in Awgu, Enugu State, traditional rulers in Umuahia North, Abia State, the Olowo of Owo in Ondo State, and the Dein of Agbor in Delta State.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the efforts of NDLEA officers nationwide.
He praised their dedication to both enforcement and the WADA sensitization campaign.
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