“We were hoping that we will get hold of the importer or anyone would have come forward as a clearing agent to clear the consignments, but unfortunately, no one came forward to lay claim to it. We have been on this in the past three weeks and we positioned our officers to monitor the movement, but no one came forward."
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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Friday seized at least four tonnes of imported Tramador tablets at the warehouse of the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL).
The agency said the importer of the banned drugs disguised them as other items for importation into the country.
NDLEA’s Special Area Command, Mr. Ahmadu Garba, told journalists at the office of the agency at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, that the importer of the banned substance probably got wind of the fact that the lid had been uncovered, so he/she refused to come forward for clearance while no clearing agent also attempted to clear the illicit drugs.
Garba explained that the imported drugs were above the approved milligrams by the Federal Government, which is between 50mg and 100mg. He said that instead of the approved milligrams, the importer came in with 250mg.
According to him, the first batch of the two consignments arrived the country on April 23, while the second consignment landed in Nigeria two days later, April 25, 2018.
He noted that the drugs were imported from India through Etihad Cargo. In all, he said the drugs came in with five waybills.
He declared that the agency got wind of the impending arrival of the consignment through its foreign intelligent partner and had since waited for the importer or clearing agent to show up for clearance, which did not happen.
“We were hoping that we would get a hold of the importer or anyone would have come forward as a clearing agent to clear the consignments, but unfortunately no one came forward to lay claim to it. We have been on this in the past three weeks and we positioned our officers to monitor the movement, but no one came forward," he said.
“Since no one claimed the consignments, we have to lay hold on them today. The fact is that we will not relent in our fight against illicit drugs. We will continue to fight the war. Our officials are ready and willing to work, but the ground handling agents workers too should be encouraged more by their employers.”