In a significant crackdown on drug trafficking, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the seizure of 31,124,600 pills of tramadol (225mg) and large quantities of codeine-based syrup, with an estimated street value exceeding N17.9 billion. The interception took place at the Port Harcourt Port Complex in Onne, Rivers State, and the Tincan Seaport in Lagos.
The NDLEA revealed that the seizures were the result of intelligence-led operations tracking the shipments from their point of origin in India. This intelligence prompted a request for a 100 percent joint examination of the flagged containers in collaboration with the Nigerian Customs Service and other security agencies.
Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, made the announcement on Sunday, detailing the scope of the operation. According to Babafemi, on August 29th and 30th, agents recovered 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup from two containers at the Tincan Port in Lagos, with each container holding 175,000 bottles of the opioid.
Simultaneously, NDLEA operatives intercepted 447 cartons of tramadol (225mg), containing a total of 29,840,000 pills, as well as 380,000 bottles of codeine syrup from three containers at the Port Harcourt Port Complex in Onne on August 29th.
The intercepted tramadol shipments were found under various brand names, including Royal Tapentadol, Carisoprodol (225mg), and Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride (225mg). Further joint examinations of three additional watch-listed containers on August 30th resulted in the recovery of 3,030 cartons of codeine syrup containing 554,600 bottles.
The combined seizures at the Onne and Tincan ports brought the total number of codeine bottles confiscated to 1,284,600, with an estimated street value of N8.99 billion. The total haul of tramadol pills seized was valued at N8.94 billion.
This operation marks one of the largest drug busts in recent times, underscoring the NDLEA’s ongoing efforts to combat the illegal drug trade in Nigeria.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers State, on Tuesday, 27th August, arrested a suspect, Eze Emekan Don, while attempting to board a Cronos Airline flight to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, with 1,490 pills of tramadol concealed and packaged as cosmetics of different brands inside his luggage. His attempt to bribe the officers to evade arrest was rebuffed.
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