…uncovers drugs concealed in dolls, soaps, beverages
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Sunday revealed that crooked attempts by drug syndicates to export illicit substances including various quantities of methamphetamine and opioids concealed in hems of new jeans trousers, dolls, buttons, local soap and tins of Milo beverage to Europe, the United Arab Emirates, and Asia have been thwarted by its operatives at some courier firms in Lagos.
Some of the consignments intercepted by the NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation at courier houses in Lagos included tramadol 225mg concealed in hems of new jeans trousers heading to Cyprus; shipment of cannabis sativa hidden in heads of dolls going to Dubai, UAE; sachets of tramadol 225mg buried in tins of Milo beverage going to the UAE and another set of the same drug hidden in local soap also going to the UAE, as well as a consignment of methamphetamine concealed in buttons heading to Hong Kong.
The spokesperson for the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday noted that a shipment of another illicit substance coming from Florida, USA was equally intercepted at a courier firm while the recipient, Daniel Ogi, was tracked by the NDLEA officers and arrested at 5 Akeem Shittu Street, Ajao Estate, Lagos on Friday, November 24, 2023.
Meanwhile, operatives in Lagos on Friday, December 1, also arrested a drug kingpin, Okechukwu Ogala, 56, who specialised in exploiting and recruiting young citizens to export meth to Asian countries. He was arrested at Blue Moon Hotel in the Okota area of Lagos with 60 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.009 kilograms.
In another operation in Lagos, operatives on Friday, December 1, recovered 393kgs of cannabis in a shop at Akala, Mushin while a suspect, Justin Enuonye, who dealt in Canadian Loud was arrested by the police at Victoria Island and transferred to Lagos Command of the NDLEA on Friday, December 1 with 154 parcels weighing 92kgs.
Babafemi further revealed that a team of the NDLEA operatives also intercepted a vehicle at the Oyingbo area of Lagos and recovered 108kgs of cannabis from it, while 675 kilograms of the same substance were recovered from the store of a wanted dealer, Wahab Olota, at the Adedoja area of Mushin, Lagos.
He added, “In Edo, the NDLEA operatives on Wednesday, November 29, stormed the Ujiogba forest, Esan West LGA where they recovered 5,988 kilograms of cannabis already processed and ready for distribution while a 22-year-old, Mson Bunde, (a.k.a Tete Peter Joseph), found in a hut on the cannabis farm was arrested.”
