The Guardian learnt that the operation led to the recovery of tramadol pills worth millions of naira, concealed in the bumpers and false bottoms of Sienna buses headed to border towns.
Confirming the incident, the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, revealed that operatives of the Directorate of Intelligence intercepted a Sienna bus with registration number ABJ 452 HG on the Nasarawa-Toto road, Keffi, Nasarawa State, at about 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 27, 2025.
Two suspects, Zahradeen Adamu, 27, and Abubakar Usman, 44, were arrested in the vehicle travelling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Yola, Adamawa State. A second Sienna bus, driven by Abba Usman, 48, was also stopped.
A search of the two vehicles uncovered specially constructed steel compartments behind the back bumpers and in the spaces meant for spare tyres.
A total of 190,960 tramadol pills were found concealed in these compartments. Investigations revealed that the supplier of the consignment, Kingsley Mbaeri, operated from Onitsha, Anambra State.
A follow-up operation led to Mbaeri’s arrest at his residence on Uga Street, Onitsha, on January 29. Two vehicles, a Toyota Corolla with registration number FGG 948 MF and a Toyota Sienna marked GWA 23 HH, were recovered from his home.
In another operation, operatives of the Intelligence Department intercepted a commercial bus at the Abaji checkpoint, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on February 4. A passenger, Chimezie Henry Ojingwa, 32, was found with motor spare parts containing 404.47 grammes of methamphetamine, 506.49 grammes of Loud (a synthetic strain of cannabis), and 262.32 grammes of dimethyl sulfone, a precursor substance used in meth production.
In Cross River State, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Ogoja-Abakaliki road at Yahe intercepted a truck carrying 170,000 tramadol pills on Thursday, February 13. The truck was driven by Paul Chukwudi, 31.
Meanwhile, operatives at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos recovered 85,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup from a container imported from India on Tuesday, February 11.
Further operations included the arrest of two suspects, Halilu Isa and Gambo Umaru, on Bama Road, Maiduguri, Borno State, on Friday, February 14. They were found with 60 compressed blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 72 kilogrammes.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives in Ekiti State raided a notorious drug joint on Iloda Street, Ikole-Ekiti, on Tuesday, February 11, arresting three suspects: Bala Muhammed, 57; Yahaya Adamu, 55; and Abdullahi Shehu, 30. A total of 83 kilogrammes of skunk was seized during the raid.
In Lagos, 28-year-old Samiat Olabisi Yussuf was arrested on Saturday, February 15, during a raid at her Lekki home, where operatives recovered 169.5 litres of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, and 111 grammes of Loud.
Additionally, NDLEA operatives in Taraba arrested two suspects, Ibrahim Usman, 40, and Solomon James, 40, with a combined 132.84 kilogrammes of skunk.
Usman was apprehended with 88 kilogrammes of Arizona and Ghana Loud at Wukari, while James was arrested with 44.84 kilogrammes of the same substance at Takanaba, Sabongari, in Jalingo Local Council.
