National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has intensified its crackdown on a transnational drug trafficking network operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor after intercepting multiple trucks conveying 3.26 million pills of tramadol into the country.
Gatekeepers News reports that according to a statement by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the seizures followed intelligence-led operations carried out on June 21, July 2 and July 4, targeting trucks used by the syndicate to smuggle the psychoactive drug into Nigeria through the Togo-Benin route. Investigators said all three consignments were linked to the same cross-border trafficking network.
The agency said two long trailers intercepted in separate operations contained 1.63 million tramadol 250mg pills concealed in specially fabricated compartments beneath the cargo floors. One truck, which was heading to Kano, carried 853,000 pills, while another intercepted along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway contained 777,000 pills.
The two 22-year-old drivers, Jabir Kabiru and Muhammed Nuhu, were arrested. The latest seizures came barely a week after NDLEA recovered 558,900 tramadol pills hidden in another truck that entered Lagos through the same route.
The agency also announced several other major anti-drug operations across the country. At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, operatives intercepted 4.7 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, concealed in cargo shipments arriving from Canada. Three suspects, including cargo agents and the alleged owner of the consignments, were arrested in connection with the imports.
Elsewhere, NDLEA arrested an 80-year-old man in Rivers State for allegedly dealing in illicit drugs, while operatives in Edo raided a warehouse where more than 400 kilograms of cannabis products were recovered.
In another operation, a Chadian woman and her Nigerian accomplice were arrested in Lagos after investigators linked them to a shipment of 50,000 tramadol pills intercepted in Kogi State. The agency said the operations underscore its commitment to dismantling organised drug trafficking networks operating within and across Nigeria’s borders.
