NDLEA intercepts 7.5m tramadol pills, codeine bottles in Lagos

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has foiled attempts by drug traffickers to flood Nigerian communities with large quantities of illicit drugs during the yuletide season.

The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement on Sunday, that the agency’s operatives intercepted millions of tramadol 225mg pills, thousands of codeine syrup bottles, and bags of Canadian Loud in consignments arriving in the country ahead of the Christmas celebration.

He said NDLEA operatives intercepted 7,500,000 pills of tramadol 225mg at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

The spokesman added that the consignment was brought to the country through the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO) import shed at the airport and intercepted by officers with the support of the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders.

Babafemi said: “The consignment which was taken into custody on Friday, December 22, arrived in Nigeria aboard a Turkish Airline flight with no country of manufacture or origin.

“Apart from being the first time such shipment would be seized on the airline’s flight, it was equally the first of such coming from Hamburg, Germany.

“The 7.5 million tramadol 225mg pills were also specially designed and packaged as Tamil-x concealed in 100 big cartons weighing 7,150kg, which arrived in the country on December 11 and placed under surveillance until last Friday.

“Preliminary test of the tablets proved positive to tramadol hydrochloride.

“In the same vein, operatives of the NDLEA, Lagos Command, on Wednesday, December 20, conducted a search operation on two shops marked Chex Mat Global Link Limited at the Trade Fair complex in the Ojo area of Lagos.

“258 cartons of codeine-based cough syrup and eight cartons of codeine tablets were recovered. The cartons contained 49, 200 bottles of codeine syrup and 46, 200 tablets of the same opioid.

“The following day, Thursday, December 21, NDLEA operatives raided a house in the Mushin area of Lagos where a 70-year-old grandma, Silifat Cole, and her son, Babajide Cole were arrested with 117.900kg of cannabis sativa.”

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