The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an Indian businessman, Gupta Ravi Kumar, and three Nigerians - Ogunlana Noah Olanrewaju, Olushola Idrees Kayode, and Bakare Korede Muheeb -following the interception of 2,248,000 tramadol pills worth N3.9 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The opioids, shipped from Delhi and packaged as multi-vitamins in 114 cartons, arrived aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight on September 8. NDLEA operatives placed the consignment under surveillance and arrested a clearing agent and two truck drivers on September 11. Kumar was picked up the next day when he attempted to take delivery.
In a separate case at MMIA’s Terminal 2, NDLEA officers arrested Onyeganochi Stanley Ifeanyi on September 7 with 900 grammes of skunk concealed in crayfish while boarding a Qatar Airways flight to Doha. His confession led to the arrest of Qatar-based Nigerian, Ohadiegwu Anthony Uchenna, at the airport. A search of Uchenna’s hotel room in Ajao Estate uncovered an additional 200 grammes of the same substance.
At Tincan Port, 161 parcels of Canadian Loud cannabis weighing 81.7kg and 1.2kg of hashish oil were recovered from a container of vehicle parts imported from Montreal. Two suspects, John Ochigbo, 53, and Okeke Kingsley, 26, were arrested. Another 65kg of Canadian Loud linked to the same shipment was intercepted on the Third Mainland Bridge, leading to the arrest of driver Abubakar Ibrahim, 42.
NDLEA said the seizures highlight its intensified crackdown on international drug syndicates.
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