The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), at the weekend busted another Tramadol cartel operating in Lagos State.
The anti-narcotics agency seized millions of Opioids pills and bottles worth over N5 billion from a warehouse in Amuwo Odofin and nabbed two of the kingpins.
Operatives were reported to have tracked and located the store housing pharmaceutical Opioids at 17, Sir Ben Onyeka street, off Ago Palace Way. The owner, Aloysius Okeke, was arrested.
Drugs recovered include 3,264,630 pills of tramadol, 3,490 bottles of codeine and 915,000 capsules of pregabalin 300mg.
The bust came on the heels of the arrest of a suspect, Olarenwaju Lawal Wahab, who distributes for the cartel.
NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this via a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday.
He said after a near-fatal encounter with suspected fake security agents escorting the drugs, operatives recovered the consignment conveyed in a white truck marked BDG 548 XX.
Recovered from his distribution bus were 14,690 bottles of codeine-based syrup, 402, 500 tablets of Tramadol 250mg, 50,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg and 210,000 capsules of pregabalin 300mg.
Also, in January 10, operatives intercepted an imported consignment of Loud, a strong variant of cannabis, weighing 4,878 kilograms along Awolowo Road Ikoyi.
The interception was followed by the seizure of 121,630 pills of pharmaceutical opioids and some quantity of Molly from a dealer, Charles Okeke, on January 11 in the Idumota area.
Also, in a remote part of Sagamu in Ogun State on Saturday, the NDLEA uncovered and dismantled a clandestine laboratory.
The laboratory produced skuchies, a highly potent psychoactive substance made with a blend of Cannabis Sativa, Tramadol, Rohypnol, Exol-5 and industrial codeine.
Several equipment and various quantities of illicit substances used to produce the dangerous new psychoactive substance were recovered.
Babafemi also stated that the NDLEA operatives stormed Alayere in Akure North LGA of Ondo State and arrested a suspect, Sunday Make, with 275kgs of Cannabis Sativa and Seeds, adding that a total of 272kgs of C/S were recovered from two suspects, Nwele Friday, aged 35, and 47-year-old Egbe Nnaemeka, at Ifo layout, Abakpa Nike, Enugu State.
Speaking on the arrests and seizures, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), charged the officers of the anti-drug agency and their compatriots across the country to sustain the heat on drug cartels in Nigeria while balancing their efforts on supply reduction with drug demand reduction activities.
