The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Sunday, 30 June claimed it intercepted 6,125 cartons of codeine syrup worth ₦7.3 billion in Rivers.
In a statement by the agency’s director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi the intercepted cartons contained 1,050,000 bottles of the opioid worth over ₦7.3 billion in street value, at the Port Harcourt Ports complex, Onne, Rivers State.
He said the seizure of six containers on Saturday, 29 June is the third in four weeks. The drugs were confiscated following credible intelligence and diligent tracking of the consignments from their port of departure by a special operations unit of NDLEA.
Babafemi posited that the operatives worked in partnership with the Port Harcourt, Ports Command of the agency and other security agencies including the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for a 100 per cent joint examination of the targeted containers.
“At the end of the joint examination of the six containers, a total of 6,125 cartons containing 1,050,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 157,500 kilograms were recovered,” he said.
Babafemi added that NDLEA officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA) Ikeja, Lagos, arrested Two passengers travelling to Doha on a Qatar Airways flight at the screening point of terminal 2 noting that the arrest came after they tested positive for ingestion of illicit substances on Friday.
He said“The suspects: Aikhomoun Daniel (alias Oladapo Olanrewaju) and Ayigoro Omobolaji were thereafter taken into observatory custody. While Daniel excreted a total of 90 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.022kg in six excretions, Ayigoro discharged 60 wraps of the same Class A substance with a total weight of 662 grams in five excretions. Further investigation revealed that Aikhomoun Daniel stole the identity of his late uncle who was once based in Germany. This is a decision he claimed he took to get a Schengen visa to enable him free access to Europe, while his real name is Oladapo Olanrewaju,”.
