Agency says more than 2.5 tonnes of illicit drugs seized nationwide in coordinated operations across multiple states
By Heapnews
Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency said on Sunday it had arrested a Brazil-based businessman at Lagos airport after discovering shirts and towels allegedly soaked in liquid cocaine, as authorities intensified a nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said 41-year-old Abugu Oliver Ikechukwu was arrested at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos after arriving from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight on June 11.
According to the agency, a search of his luggage uncovered 14 towels and shirts impregnated with 6.10 kilograms of liquid cocaine that had been dried and carefully ironed to conceal the narcotics.
NDLEA said the suspect told investigators he had lived in Brazil for more than 14 years, where he operates an African restaurant. He said he had travelled to Nigeria to visit his wife and purchase food supplies for the business.
The arrest was part of a series of operations carried out across the country in the past week, resulting in multiple arrests and large drug seizures.
In Abia State, NDLEA took into custody a 60-year-old woman, Chidimma Sunday, after local vigilantes intercepted her with 1.8 kilograms of cannabis and handed her over to authorities. In Rivers State, officers arrested 28-year-old Abubakar Usman, a person living with disability, during a raid in Port Harcourt and recovered cannabis, methamphetamine, tramadol, diazepam and other controlled substances.
In Delta State, officers arrested a suspect identified as Onya Jude after allegedly discovering 2.8 kilograms of “Loud”, a potent cannabis strain, concealed inside gas cylinders. Two suspected drug dealers were also arrested in Gombe State with more than 2.7 kilograms of cannabis.
Further operations led to the seizure of 6,000 tramadol pills from a suspect along the Zaria-Kano highway, while two men were intercepted in Kwara State transporting 304 kilograms of compressed cannabis blocks in a sport utility vehicle, the agency said.
One of the largest seizures occurred in Taraba State, where NDLEA officers raided a warehouse and recovered 63 jumbo bags containing 1,121.5 kilograms of cannabis. In a separate operation along the Gwagwalada expressway in Abuja, officers seized more than 30,000 tramadol pills, hundreds of pregabalin and ecstasy tablets, and nearly 600 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup from a suspect.
The agency also reported the recovery of 1,102 kilograms of “Ghana Loud”, another cannabis strain, near Alaba International Market in Lagos.
NDLEA Chairman Mohamed Buba Marwa commended officers involved in the operations and urged commands across the country to sustain efforts aimed at reducing drug supply while continuing public awareness campaigns under the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse programme.
The agency said it also conducted anti-drug sensitisation activities during the week in schools, communities and traditional institutions across several states.