NDLEA Nabs Drug Syndicate, Siezes 13bn Worth of Narcotics

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a group of illicit drug syndicate operating between Lagos and Kano.

The syndicate was said to have been using official cover to facilitate the smuggling of illicit drugs through the Skyway Aviation Handling Company warehouse at the Lagos airport into the country have been arrested

This is contained in a statementa signed signed by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, and shared on the agency’s Facebook page on Sunday.

Babafemi said the group’cover was blown following the arrest of a 40-year-old blind suspect, Adamu Hassan along Gwagwalada expressway Abuja with 12kgs of skunk on his way from Lagos to Kano on Saturday 28th, October.

Investigations, however, established that he was totally oblivious to the contents of the bag handed to him to deliver in Kano.

The statement in part said, “No less than Fourteen Million, Four Hundred and Eighty-One Thousand, Five Hundred and Nineteen (14, 481, 519) pills of Tramadol and bottles of codeine syrup worth over thirteen billion Naira (N13,000,000,000) in street value have been recovered by operatives of the National Drug Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, in three major busts of drug cartels operating in Amuwo Odofin, Idumota and the SAHCO shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos.

“The three intelligence-led operations began with the raid of House 8/10 Hon. Wahuha Avenue, Divine Estate, Ago Palace area of Amuwo Odofin on Sunday 29th October, where 490,000 pills of Tramadol and 81,519 bottles of codeine syrup measuring 4, 510, 000mls were recovered.

“In a similar operation on Tuesday 31st October, NDLEA operatives swooped on a secret warehouse operated by a billionaire Idumota trader, Nwaoha Anayo, located at Onitire, Aguda area of Surulere where Twelve Million Seven Hundred Thousand (12, 700, 000) pills of Tramadol were recovered.

“In the same vein, at least six members of a syndicate using their official cover to facilitate the smuggling of illicit drugs through the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) warehouse at the Lagos airport into the country have been arrested and One Million Two Hundred and Ten Thousand (1, 210, 000) pills of Tramadol seized from them in a painstaking operation that lasted for weeks.

“The six suspects already in NDLEA custody include Oladele Sanya-Olu; Lawal Itunu Temitope, Sanamo Alla Daniel; Udeh Felix Monday, Musa Mutalib and Unege Evans Icibor, while three other suspects: Sarki Mubarak Salami; Abdullahi Aliyu (aka Aboki); and Monday Anwal, are now on the run and wanted by the NDLEA.”