The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested several suspects, including an 80-year-old man, a businesswoman, a couple and a Chadian woman, during interdiction operations in different states.
The arrests were made in Rivers, Edo, Kogi and Lagos as part of ongoing efforts to curb illicit drug trafficking across Nigeria.
NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the operations in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja.
According to Babafemi, operatives in Rivers State arrested an 80-year-old man at Ahoada on Tuesday, July 14, for alleged involvement in illicit drug dealing.
He said the suspect was found with 800 grams of skunk at the time of his arrest.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives arrested a Chadian woman and her Nigerian accomplice in Lagos after a consignment of tramadol was intercepted in Kogi State.
Babafemi said 50,000 pills of tramadol 225mg were seized on Sunday, July 12.
The agency said investigations later linked the consignment to the two suspects, who were traced to Lagos and arrested in the Apapa area.
The NDLEA also intercepted two consignments of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos.
The consignments weighed a total of 4.70 kilograms.
According to the agency, the cargoes arrived from Canada in cartons marked “Odugwu.”
They were brought into the country aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on June 24 and July 3.
Babafemi said two cargo agents connected to the shipments were first arrested.
Another suspect who later appeared to take delivery of the consignments from a logistics company was also apprehended.
The agency said a 44-year-old businesswoman, identified as the actual owner of the consignments, was eventually arrested on July 7.
Her arrest was carried out in collaboration with the Area C Command of the Nigeria Police in Surulere, Lagos.
The suspect reportedly claimed that she was into printing business and said a friend living in Canada introduced her to the illegal trade.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives arrested a couple during a raid on an alleged illicit drug warehouse along Sapele Road in Benin City.
Babafemi said the raid led to the seizure of 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5 kilograms.
Operatives also recovered compressed blocks of Canadian Loud weighing 192.67 kilograms.
Chairman of the NDLEA, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, commended officers and personnel of the agency’s MMIA, Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Kogi commands for the arrests and seizures.
Marwa said their efforts had contributed significantly to the national campaign against illicit drugs.
He urged officers across the country to remain vigilant and committed to the agency’s drug control operations.
