Nigeria’s NDLEA reports major opioid seizure at Lagos airport

Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says it intercepted 2.55 million opioid tablets worth more than N3 billion during an operation at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said the drugs, weighing 1,640.55kg, were seized on September 22 during a joint examination of three consignments at the airport’s import shed. The consignments contained Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg.

The agency said the consignments had been imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines. The seizure follows earlier interceptions at the Lagos airport, including 3.9 million Tramaking and Tapentadol tablets reported in August and more than 1.8 million Tapentadol tablets reported in May. At Enugu’s Akanu Ibiam International Airport, NDLEA operatives arrested a 25-year-old businessman who allegedly ingested 72 wraps of cocaine while preparing to travel to Portugal through Addis Ababa.

The agency said he later excreted all the wraps while under observation. NDLEA also reported arrests in Oyo State involving two Togolese nationals and 305.6kg of cannabis allegedly sourced from Ghana. At the Seme border, five men were arrested over 420 cartons of nitrous oxide weighing 1,688.4kg, according to the agency.

In Bauchi, officers reported finding 262.5kg of cannabis in a truck’s false compartment. In Edo, two cannabis farms with an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23kg were destroyed. Separate Lagos operations produced cannabis, pentazocine, nitrazepam and tramadol seizures.

NDLEA chairman Buba Marwa commended the officers and urged them to continue efforts against drug trafficking and abuse. The agency also said its commands maintained public-awareness activities during the week.