The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted six million pills of opioids and 332,000 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup with a total estimated street value of N6.52 billion at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State, and the Apapa Seaport in Lagos.
EpeInsights reports that the Director of Media and Advocacy at the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja, Femi Babafemi, revealed this in a statement.
He said the seizures followed intelligence reports and the tracking of new drug trafficking routes into Nigeria. The affected containers had been placed on a watch list for thorough examination.
At the Port Harcourt Ports, NDLEA operatives uncovered six million pills of opioids including Tamol 225mg, Tapentadol 225mg, and Carisoprodol 225mg, along with 162,000 bottles of codeine syrup.
The seizures were made during a joint inspection with Nigeria Customs and other security agencies on May 19 and 20.
Another 170,000 bottles of codeine syrup were intercepted during a similar joint operation at the Apapa Port on May 22.
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers arrested two British nationals and two Nigerians in connection with an attempt to smuggle 92 bags of Loud, a high-grade strain of cannabis, weighing 51.10 kilograms into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
According to the NDLEA, Mhizha Jordan Alexander Tatendra was intercepted after arriving on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha on May 15.
Surveillance operatives allowed him to exit the terminal and tracked him to the car park, where he was received by Ayedipe Andrew Adejuwon, a Nigerian-British national, alongside his relation Shonowo Oluwaseun Imole and a driver, Ofuoma Omokaro Ayobami.
The suspects were arrested as they attempted to leave the airport in a vehicle carrying the drug consignment. In his statement, Alexander admitted to being recruited during a recent vacation and promised £1,300 upon successful delivery.
Adejuwon, who was identified as the leader of the group, said he had arrived in Nigeria a day earlier from South Africa via Ghana.
The NDLEA said the arrests and seizures reflect its ongoing efforts to disrupt drug trafficking networks and safeguard public health and security.
