Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have thwarted attempt by a businessman, Olisaka Chibuzo Calistus, to smuggle 256 wraps of cocaine weighing six kilogrammes into the country through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano.
The seizure, which is the single largest interception of cocaine at the Kano airport since the creation of MAKIA Command of the NDLEA in 2006, was made on Sunday December 15, 2024 during the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 941 from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday in a statement said that Olisaka, who claimed to be into import and export business, was subjected to body screening during which he was found to have packed hundreds of cocaine pellets in his body.
A similar attempt by an ex-convict, Olanrewaju Bada Akorede to export a consignment of rohypnol to South Africa through the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos, was equally frustrated by the NDLEA officers at the airport.
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The consignment was hidden in a cargo containing gari, shoes, men’s singlets and other items.
“Olarenwaju was convicted for a similar crime earlier this year following his arrest on 12th December 2023 for attempting to ship 4.90kgs tramadol and 2.10kgs rohypnol to South Africa through the export shed of the Lagos airport.
“He was sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Lagos with an option to pay a fine of N900,000, which he paid and was freed before returning to repeat the same crime,” Babafemi said.
Also, an Italy-based businesswoman Cynthia Akaeen was on Wednesday, December 18 arrested by the NDLEA officers while trying to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Italy via Addis Ababa.
The suspect was intercepted at the departure point of Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport during an outward clearance of passengers going to Italy.
A total of 9,190 tablets of various brands of tramadol weighing 6.00kgs were recovered from her.
According to her, she was promised €1,000 upon successful delivery of the consignment in Italy.
Meanwhile, no fewer than 418,330 pills of tramadol 225mg, 100mg and tapentadol 250mg as well as 8,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from a warehouse at a building material market in Onitsha, Anambra State, on Tuesday, December 17 when NDLEA operatives raided the market following credible intelligence.
At the Tincan Island port in Lagos, a total of 180,000 bottles of codeine syrup were recovered on Wednesday, December 18 from a container, which originated from Mundra, India.
The seizure was made during a joint examination of the container by men of the NDLEA, Customs, DSS, police, and other security agencies at the port, while a suspect Makata Emmanuel, who is the consignee and notify party, was promptly taken into custody.
A total of 293,000 capsules of tramadol, a pistol and 26 rounds of 7.65mm live ammunition were recovered from the duo of Ishaya Wabba, 54, and Samaila Audu, 44, when they were arrested in a Toyota Sienna bus at Pompomari Bypass, Maiduguri, Borno State. Another suspect, Sanusi Abdul Hamid, 37, was nabbed at Gwange area of the state capital with 260,000 capsules of the same psychoactive substance on Monday, December 16.
A 35-year-old suspect Modu Kolera was equally arrested on Wednesday at Customs area of Maiduguri with 8.5kgs cannabis; 5,000 pills of tramadol; 7,500 tabs of diazepam; 14,500 tablets of exol and 50 litres of ‘suck and die’, a new psychoactive substance, in his Volkswagen Golf car marked DKW 812 AA.
While a suspect Gafar Saminu, 30, was arrested on Wednesday with 33.5kgs of cannabis sativa, at Ayete, Oyo State, NDLEA operatives in Enugu State on the same day raided the Aria new market where they recovered 94kgs of the same substance.
In Lagos State, a consignment of 32kgs ephedrine, a precursor chemical going to the South East was on Monday recovered at the Young Shall Grow Luxurious Vehicles Park, Maza-maza.
While commending the officers and men of MAKIA, MMIA, Anambra, Borno, Lagos, Oyo, Enugu, and Tincan Commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) urged them and their compatriots across the country not to rest on their oars as they intensified their efforts to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction.
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