Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made several significant arrests and drug seizures across the country, including the apprehension of an 80-year-old grandfather and the interception of opioids worth billions of naira.
In a statement released Sunday, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi announced the arrest of Aremu Shojobi, an 80-year-old man found with 14 kilograms of cannabis in the Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos State. Shojobi reportedly confessed to selling illicit drugs for the past 25 years, sourcing his supplies from Benin Republic.
In a separate operation at the Tincan port complex in Lagos, NDLEA operatives seized 25 million pills of tapentadol, an opioid three times stronger than tramadol, and 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup. The seizures, made on September 17 and 20, have an estimated street value of 14.95 billion naira ($18.7 million).
“The tapentadol consignment, packed in 500 cartons, was discovered in one container on September 17, while another container examined the same day contained 175,000 bottles of Barcadin cough syrup with codeine,” Babafemi stated.
The agency also raided the homes of Alhaji Bashir Mohammed Talba, a community leader in Badagry, recovering 226 kg of cannabis from his two wives and son. Talba is currently at large.
In Kano, NDLEA operatives arrested a 38-year-old drug mule, Okafor Ifeanyi Anthony, attempting to board a flight to Iran with 76 wraps of cocaine in his stomach.
Additional seizures were reported in Kogi, Niger, Rivers, and Plateau states, including large quantities of tramadol, diazepam, and cannabis.
These operations underscore the NDLEA’s intensified efforts to combat drug trafficking and abuse in Nigeria, targeting both street-level dealers and international smuggling operations.
Credit: punchng.com
