By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia
SYNTHETIC CANNABIS disguised in moimoi sachets and Canadian Loud concealed in imported canned food have been intercepted in sweeping nationwide operations by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), with dozens of other couriers arrested across 13 states and over 71,000 pills of opioids seized.
Liang Tak You, a Chinese national, was arrested at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, after arriving from Bangkok via Dubai on an Emirates flight.
Operatives, acting on intelligence, allowed him to pass through immigration before intercepting him with 50 parcels of Loud weighing 26.10kg in two suitcases picked up from Thailand.
An 80-year-old woman, Mrs Grace Ekpeme, was apprehended at Edet-Nsa Street, Base Site, Calabar South, with over 3kg of skunk in a raid conducted on Saturday 26 July.
NDLEA officers in Lagos also intercepted Chidi Agbafo along the Epe–Ajah expressway with 21.7kg of Colorado hidden in moimoi sachets and 3.8 litres of codeine syrup en route to Delta State.
At Apapa Seaport, a joint operation involving Customs and other agencies uncovered 101kg of Canadian Loud factory-packed in 202 tins of imported food labelled ‘Bean Salad Mix’, concealed in two Toyota Sienna buses shipped from Canada.
On Abuja–Kaduna highway, officers arrested Usman Musa travelling in a commercial bus with 71,000 opioid pills including tramadol, diazepam, and exol-5.
In Borno, 30-year-old Binta Usman was arrested at her home in Muna Moforo, Maiduguri, where 30.1kg of skunk was recovered. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of her associate Bala Abdullahi.
In Ondo, three brothers—Nanna, Chizom, and Maxwell Ozirinye—were arrested during a raid on a cannabis farm in Idoani forest, where 2,500kg of skunk on one hectare was destroyed and 121.4kg of processed cannabis was seized.
Edo command officers arrested Bright Sunday Okon, 26, at Asakpa community, Benin City, recovering several strains of cannabis and methamphetamine.
Nasarawa command recovered 105.4kg of skunk from an abandoned Honda vehicle in Keffi, while Niger officers arrested Bashir Abdullahi in Minna with 6,400 tramadol pills.
Ogun command apprehended Jamiu Omolaja in Ifo with 113kg of skunk after overcoming violent gang resistance.
Further arrests included Adamu Adamu (aka Dankyado) on Gombe–Bajoga road with 10,910 tramadol capsules, and Kindness Bala, 27, in Abuja, in connection with skunk concealed in garri, dried scent leaves, and foodstuffs, intended for transport to Katsina and onward to Qatar.
Kogi command recovered an additional 23,600 tramadol pills, 300 ampoules of pentazocine, and 700g of skunk from a motor park in Ayingba.
NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign also continued nationwide. Awareness lectures were held at secondary schools in Oyo, Ebonyi, Sokoto, and Lagos states, while NDLEA officers in Anambra paid advocacy visits to traditional rulers in Awka and Ukpo.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers across the affected state commands for balancing drug supply suppression with demand reduction through sustained enforcement and advocacy.
