NDLEA arrests auto parts dealer, businesswoman over UK-bound opioids, cocaine
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested an Ibadan-based businesswoman, Mrs. Adewunmi Adebola, and an auto parts dealer, Arinze Ora, over attempts to export consignments of opioids and cocaine to the United Kingdom and Congo Brazzaville.
A statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi revealed that officers at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, intercepted the illegal substances on Friday, 6th September 2024. During a thorough search of the consignment bound for the UK, officers discovered 924 bottles of codeine-based syrup weighing 135.7 kilograms and 5,250 tablets of rohypnol hidden in cartons of foodstuffs.
The freight agent, Owojori Olanrewaju, who presented the cargo, was immediately arrested. Further investigation led to the apprehension of another suspect, Adewunmi Akeem, who claimed his mother, Mrs. Adewunmi Adebola, had sent the consignment from Ibadan for him to deliver to the agent.
The NDLEA’s follow-up operation on 7th September resulted in Mrs. Adewunmi’s arrest at her Ibadan residence, where she operates a foodstuffs and cargo export business. Owojori admitted that he had worked for Mrs. Adewunmi on several export jobs, receiving N2.41 million for the most recent operation and N2.1 million for a previous consignment.
In a similar operation, NDLEA operatives at the same export shed intercepted another consignment of auto spare parts and powder custard bound for Congo Brazzaville on Ethiopian Airlines. A search of the cargo uncovered 300 grams of cocaine concealed in containers of checkers powder custard packed alongside auto parts. A follow-up investigation led to the arrest of the sender, Arinze Ora, a Lagos-based auto parts dealer.
READ ALSO: NDLEA intercepts UK, Europe-bound cocaine in female sanitary pads
The NDLEA also disclosed the arrest of two brothers, Ikechukwu and Ugochukwu Ikeabba, who are accused of sponsoring drug traffickers specializing in smuggling drugs through ingestion to Vietnam. The arrest followed the earlier apprehension of an Onitsha-based businessman, Ibeanusi Nosike, who was found to have ingested 68 wraps of cocaine.
In Gombe State, NDLEA operatives arrested three suspects—Auwal Abdullahi, Isah Rabiu, and Abubakar Da’u—along the Bauchi-Gombe road while transporting 2,490,000 pills of tramadol concealed in bags of salt.
In further operations across Nigeria, NDLEA officers arrested multiple suspects with significant amounts of illegal drugs in Kaduna, Ekiti, and Bauchi states, seizing large quantities of tramadol, cannabis, and other narcotics.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the agency’s officers for their efforts in the ongoing war against drug abuse, urging them to intensify their efforts to reduce the supply and demand of illicit drugs across the country.
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