The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted consignments of cocaine concealed inside a local mortar and the false bottom of a backpack, both packaged for shipment to China and Italy through a logistics company in Lagos.
The agency said officers of its Directorate of Operations and General Investigations (DOGI) made the seizures on Thursday, July 30. The intercepted consignments included 250 grams of cocaine hidden in the base of a locally made mortar destined for China and another 500 grams concealed in the false compartment of a backpack being shipped to Italy.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives arrested a 38-year-old suspected drug dealer, Ugo Gift Okonkwo, at Eagle Island, Port Harcourt, following intelligence reports. He was apprehended on July 26 with quantities of cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, swinol, tramadol and codeine syrup.
In Anambra State, officers intercepted a truck carrying 26,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing about 3,960 kilograms during a stop-and-search operation at the DMGS Roundabout in Onitsha on July 27. The truck driver, Chinedu Nwanze, 40, was arrested.
In Delta State, operatives recovered 331.84 kilograms of skunk from a Toyota Sienna bus along the Kwale-Ughelli Expressway on July 26.
Similarly, in Nasarawa State, a 64-year-old suspect, Joseph Nwaeke, was arrested on July 28 in the Karu area with 68 kilograms of skunk and 29 grams of methamphetamine.
In Zamfara State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 27-year-old suspect, Sani Umar, along the Zaria-Gusau Highway with 7,400 pills of tramadol 225mg suspected to be supplies for criminal elements.
The agency also continued its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, conducting sensitisation programmes in schools, motor parks and communities across Kano, Oyo and Taraba states.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the successful operations and urged personnel nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug supply reduction and public awareness.