National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, alongside three Nigerians, in connection with a tramadol consignment worth N3.9 billion intercepted at the Lagos airport.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Nigerians were identified as Ogunlana Noah Olanrewaju, Olushola Idrees Kayode, and Bakare Korede Muheeb.
In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said officers seized 2,248,000 pills of tramadol packaged as multivitamins in 114 cartons. The shipment arrived on September 8 at the Lagos airport import shed aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Delhi, India.
According to him, NDLEA operatives arrested a clearing agent and two drivers on September 11 while they attempted to move the consignment out of the airport with two trucks. The Indian businessman was picked up the following day when he came to claim the drugs.
Babafemi also disclosed that NDLEA operatives apprehended Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi, a passenger on a Qatar Airways flight to Doha, with 900 grams of skunk hidden in crayfish at the Lagos airport.
He said, “As a first-time traveler, Onyeganochi claimed the bag was given to him to help take to Doha by a Qatar-based Nigerian, Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, who actually followed him to the airport.”
“His confession led to the arrest of Uchenna who was still within view. Operatives who later conducted a search of Uchenna’s hotel room in Ajao estate discovered additional 200 grams of the same psychoactive substance.”
Babafemi added that Uchenna planned to pick up the bag from Onyeganochi in Doha if the drugs had passed through security checks undetected.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Tincan port in Lagos recovered 161 parcels of Canadian Loud, a cannabis strain weighing 81.7kg, along with 1.2kg of hashish oil.
The drugs were found in a 40-foot container of vehicle spare parts and used cars from Montreal, Canada, during a joint inspection on September 9. Two suspects, John Ochigbo (53) and Okeke Kingsley (26), were arrested in connection with the seizure.
