Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested members of a syndicate involved in the illicit importation and trafficking of the lethal synthetic opioid, Fentanyl.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, in a statement Tuesday, said that Fentanyl is a drug that is 100 times stronger than Tramadol and capable of causing mass casualty among the youth population being targeted by the cartels.
He said the arrest of two members of the syndicate: Odoh Collins Oguejiofor and Oliver Chigozie Uzoma at Ogbogwu market, Onitsha Head Bridge, Onitsha South LGA, Anambra State, in well-coordinated and clinical operations, was coming on the heels of an alert issued by the agency on November 22, 2022.
He said the NDLEA had alerted that some criminal elements were plotting to flood the Nigerian market with the drug currently responsible for over 70 percent of overdose deaths as well as a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the United States.
“According to the CDC in the US, Fentanyl is 80 times as potent as morphine and 100 times more potent than heroin.
“Following credible intelligence and synergy with local and international partners, the NDLEA was able to mobilise necessary assets to trace the illicitly manufactured drug to the Ogbogwu market, Onitsha Head Bridge, reputed to be the largest drug market in West Africa, after months of undercover monitoring.
“Convinced that the agency has gathered sufficient evidence to nail the suspects, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) ordered a deployment of operatives to pick members of the syndicate one after the other.
“Odoh Collins Oguejiofor was the first to be arrested while on a business mission with packets of 100 micrograms of Fentanyl, while the arrest of Uzoma who is a major dealer in other illicitly manufactured pharmaceutical opioids including Fentanyl, followed,” Babafemi said.
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