This was disclosed in a press statement issued by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy on Sunday, adding that illegal substances were intercepted alongside bags of salt during the operation.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the seizure of 2.49 million tramadol pills concealed in bags of salt in a truck along the Bauchi-Gombe Road, Gombe State.
This was disclosed in a press statement issued by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy on Sunday, adding that illegal substances were intercepted alongside bags of salt during the operation.
The statement also stated the agency arrested two brothers, Ikechukwu and Ugochukwu Ikeabba, who are alleged sponsors of a cocaine trafficking syndicate that exports drugs to Vietnam through ingestion.
The arrest followed an investigation into an earlier arrest of Ibeanusi Solomon Nosike, a 36-year-old businessman from Onitsha, Anambra state, who was caught with 68 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.282 kilograms at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
It reads, “Meanwhile, operatives of a Special Operations Unit of NDLEA on Tuesday 10th September arrested two brothers: Ikechukwu Ikeabba and Ugochukwu Ikeabba who are sponsors of drug traffickers who specialise in exporting drugs by ingestion to Vietnam.
“Their arrest followed diligent investigation of an earlier arrest of an Onitsha, Anambra state based-businessman, Ibeanusi Solomon Nosike, who excreted 68 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.282 kilograms after 12 days of excretion observation after he was arrested at the local wing of the Lagos airport by NDLEA operatives.
“The 36-year-old Ibeanusi was arrested in the early hours of Thursday 8th August 2024 at the old domestic terminal of the Lagos airport while attempting to board the first flight out of Lagos to Abuja where he was scheduled to join a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja at about 10am same day.”
Another suspect, Paul Okwuy Mbadugha, 54, was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on August 12, 2024, with 88 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.710 kilograms.
“Another Vietnam-bound businessman, 54-year-old Paul Okwuy Mbadugha had been arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Abuja airport on Monday 12th August 2024 during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam via Doha after he tested positive to ingestion of cocaine. After four days under observation, Mbadugha egested a total of 88 wraps of the illicit drug with a gross weight of 1.710 kilograms.
“At the time of the arrest of the two kingpins, the Ikeabba brothers, they were caught with 87 wraps of cocaine dummies used in training intending swallowers.”
The statement revealed further that in Kaduna state, a suspect was arrested with 41.5 kilograms of cannabis sativa, while two suspects were nabbed in Ekiti state with 73.6 kilograms of cannabis.
In Bauchi state, 208,920 pills of tramadol and diazepam were seized from a suspect, and 104 kilograms of cannabis was recovered from two suspects along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
At the Tincan port in Lagos, NDLEA operatives discovered 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup in two containers shipped from India.
The statement reads in part: “In Gombe state, NDLEA operatives acting on credible intelligence on Saturday 14th September arrested three suspects: Auwal Abdullahi, Isah Rabiu and Abubakar Da'u along Bauchi-Gombe Road while travelling in a DAF truck marked GME 552 ZU.
“A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of two million four hundred and ninety (2,490,000) pills of tramadol concealed with bags of salt.
“A suspect, Idris Adamu, 23, was arrested with 41.5 kilograms of cannabis sativa at Kachia town, Kaduna state on Tuesday 10th September while two suspects: Godiya Sekyen Jikuk, 36, and Yusuf Umaru,65, were nabbed at Isinbode -Ekiti, Ekiti state with a total of 73.6kg cannabis on Wednesday 11th September.
“In Bauchi state, no fewer than 208,920 pills of tramadol and diazepam were seized from a suspect, Chinedu Asadu, 35, on Thursday 13th September while 104kg of cannabis was recovered from two suspects: Abba Abdullahi and Mustapha Yahaya along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Tuesday 10th September by operatives in Lagos state.
“Not less than 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were discovered by NDLEA operatives in two containers shipped from India during a joint examination of the containers with men of Customs Service and other security agencies at the Tincan port in Lagos on Tuesday 10th September. The containers were part of those targeted by NDLEA for 100 percent examination.”