November 13, (THEWILL) – Operatives of the National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested six members of a syndicate using their official cover to facilitate the smuggling of illicit drugs through the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) warehouse at the Lagos airport into the country.
The agency, in a statement by its Spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the suspects were arrested during an operation, which lasted for weeks while one million two hundred and ten thousand (1,210,000) pills of tramadol were seized.
The arrested suspects include Oladele Sanya-Olu, Lawal Itunu Temitope, Sanamo Alla Daniel, Udeh Felix Monday, Musa Mutalib and Unege Evans Icibor, “while three other suspects: Sarki Mubarak Salami, Abdullahi Aliyu (aka Aboki), and Monday Anwal, are now on the run and wanted by NDLEA.”
Meanwhile, the agency also recovered fourteen million, four hundred and eighty-one thousand, five hundred and nineteen (14,481,519) pills of tramadol and bottles of codeine syrup worth over thirteen billion naira (N13,000,000,000) in street value.
Babafemi said the drugs were recovered in a raid of three major drug cartels operating in Amuwo Odofin, Idumota, and the SAHCO shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
“The three intelligence-led operations began with the raid of House 8/10 Hon. Wahuha Avenue, Divine Estate, Ago Palace area of Amuwo Odofin on Sunday, 29th October, where 490,000 pills of tramadol and 81,519 bottles of codeine syrup measuring 4,510,000mls were recovered.
“In a similar operation on Tuesday, 31st October, NDLEA operatives swooped on a secret warehouse operated by a billionaire Idumota trader, Nwaoha Anayo, located at Onitire, Aguda area of Surulere where twelve million, seven hundred thousand (12,700,000) pills of tramadol were recovered,” he added.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives, on Sunday, 29th October intercepted 50-year-old Nwokolo Ifeanyi Anthony at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja during the outward clearance of Air France flight AF878 to Amsterdam, Netherlands via Paris, France at the boarding gate and was body scanned.
“The result turned out to be positive for illicit drug ingestion. The suspect, who travelled from Lagos to board the flight, was subsequently kept under observation for some days during which he excreted a total of 86 pellets of heroin weighing 1.330 kilograms.”
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