NDLEA arrests owner of tramadol consignment in viral airport video

• Intercepts 1,274 parcels of cocaine, colorado in Lagos, 5.6m opioid pills in Kano
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested one Okosun Paul Punitt, the owner of a consignment of tramadol in a viral video fracas at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.

The illicit substance was concealed in a bottle of dietary supplements, which a staff of Pathfinder International Ltd, Ajuzieogu Mac-Elvis Ugochukwu, attempted sending through an intending passenger on Ibom Air to Accra, Ghana, at the Lagos airport on Tuesday, January 26.

A video of the face-off between the passenger and Ajuzieogu later went viral after the vigilant passenger suspected that the consignment contained illicit substances.

Spokesperson for the anti-drug agency, Femi Babafemi, yesterday, confirmed that both Ajuzieogu and the exhibit were later transferred to NDLEA on Thursday, January 18, by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) for investigation.

According to him, preliminary findings showed the parcel contained 50 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in a bottle of dietary supplements.

A follow up operation by the agency led to the arrest of Okosun upon his return from Ghana on Friday. He has, in his statement, confirmed ownership of the drug.

Similarly, two vigilant freight agents and a traveller escaped being roped into two drug trafficking operations by desperate traffickers at MMIA.

The two agents were contacted to send a consignment of 1kg cannabis concealed in tins of Milo beverage to Turkey but chose to submit the shipment to NDLEA checks before processing the cargo. The psychoactive substance was later discovered to be hidden inside the shipment.

Also, NDLEA operatives have intercepted large consignments of cocaine and colorado, a strong strain of cannabis, concealed in containerised household items and vehicles imported from Durban, South Africa and Canada, at the Tincan Seaport in Lagos.

Following coordinated intelligence and months of tracking of the containers by three special units of NDLEA, the illicit drugs along with arms, ammunition and sundry military effects were seized during joint examination of the three containers by the agency’s officers and their counterparts from customs service and other security agencies between Thursday and Friday, January 18 and 19, 2024.

The agency’s sniffer dogs were also deployed to help identify locations and bags used in concealing the illicit items.

Some of the items recovered from the containers include: 1,274 parcels of cocaine and colorado with a total weight of 884.09 kilogrammes; four pistols; 197 rounds of 9mm ammunition, 49 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 275 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, 14 rounds of 9mm ammunition and sundry military personnel effects as well as some chemicals in kegs.

With the exception of 32.5kg shipment of colorado that came in used vehicles from Canada, the rest of the items were found in two of three containers that arrived the Tincan port from Durban, South Africa onboard a vessel, marked MSC RESILIENT III, and discharged on December 31, 2023.

A suspect linked to one of the containers, UACU 5348336, bearing the 32.5kg colorado, 41-year-old Akara Chibugo, was tracked and arrested by NDLEA operatives.

In Kano, about 5,653,000 pills of tramadol 250mg and exol-5 were seized from three suspects.

While Nura Abdullahi, 38, and Tahir Muhammad Mukhtar, 42, were arrested at the Bacharawa area of Kano with 5,404,000 pills of tramadol 250mg on Sunday, January 24; Yusuf Umar, 50, was nabbed at the Gadar Tamburawa area of the state the previous day, Saturday, January 13, with 249,000 tablets of exol-5.

In Lagos, two suspects: Ali Abubakar and Murtala Sani, were arrested at the Ojodu Berger area on Tuesday, January 26, with 110kg of cannabis sativa while 69kg of the same substance was recovered from the hideout of a fleeing suspect in Akerele, Surulere, the same day.

About 2,800 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup were recovered by NDLEA officers on Saturday, January 20, during a raid at Aleita, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The suspected owner of the consignment, Jideofor Sochima, is still at large.

While a total of 100,510 pills of opioids were seized from a suspect, Ike Emmanuel, 35, on Thursday, January 18, at Dan-Anacha village, Taraba State; NDLEA operatives in Abia State arrested 60-year-old Joseph Isiguzoro, as well as Emmanuel Eugene and Malachi Ndu in parts of Abia State with 34,200 pills of opioids. Isiguzoro was equally found with monetary exhibit of about N2.8 million.