Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

 How Ukatu imported N22b worth of tramadol, by NDLEA

By Bertram Nwannekanma
04 May 2022   |   4:03 am
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), yesterday, revealed how the alleged billionaire drug baron, Chief Afam Mallinson Ukatu, imported N22 billion worth of tramadol.

NDLEA

 
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), yesterday, revealed how the alleged billionaire drug baron, Chief Afam Mallinson Ukatu, imported N22 billion worth of tramadol.
   
NDLEA’s director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement yesterday, said the agency’s ongoing investigation showed that the suspect imported into Nigeria in October 2019, two containers containing 1,284 cartons of tramadol with market value of over N22billion.
     
According to him, the discovery countered insinuations by some hirelings that the anti-narcotics agency has no evidence to pin a crime on Ukatu, who is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mallinson Group of companies.
   
He said: “After months of surveillance, Ukatu was eventually arrested on board a flight to Abuja at the Muritala Mohammed (MM2) terminal of the Lagos airport, Ikeja on Wednesday, April 13.

    
“Investigations reveaedl he’s been a major importer of large consignments of different brands and high dosages of tramadol hydrochloride, ranging from 120mg, 200mg, 225mg and 250mg, all of which are illicit. Ukatu owns pharmaceutical and plastic manufacturing companies, which he used as a cover to import illicit drugs into Nigeria.
 
“ In the course of investigating the N3 billion tramadol saga between Ukatu and the Abba Kyari’s IRT team,  operatives unearthed more evidence establishing how Ukatu has been importing large quantities of tramadol far above the approved threshold allowed into the country.
 
“In one instance, Ukatu through his Mallinson Group of companies imported into the country two-container loads of five different brands of tramadol in October 2019 through the Apapa ports in Lagos.
 
“All the evidence so far gathered shows that the imported tramadol brands were far above the threshold permitted to be imported into Nigeria.
“No doubt the suspect will soon have his day in court.”

In this article

0 Comments