The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully intercepted a staggering 31,124,600 pills of tramadol 225mg and bottles of codeine-based syrup, valued at over N17.9 billion in street worth, at the Port Harcourt Port Complex in Onne, Rivers State, and the Tincan Seaport in Lagos.
This massive haul was the result of carefully processed intelligence by the Agency regarding the movement of these shipments from India. The NDLEA demanded a 100 percent joint examination of the flagged containers, working alongside the Nigerian Customs Service and other security agencies.
In Lagos, the agency recovered 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup from two containers at the Tincan port on Thursday and Friday, August 29 and 30, 2024. Each container was found to contain 175,000 bottles of the controlled substance.
Meanwhile, at the Port Harcourt Port Complex in Onne, NDLEA operatives seized 447 cartons of tramadol 225mg, totaling 29,840,000 pills, and 380,000 bottles of codeine syrup from three containers on Thursday, August 29. The tramadol was discovered under different brand names, including Royal Tapentadol, Carisoprodol 225mg, and Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride 225mg.
On the following day, Friday, August 30, NDLEA agents subjected another three containers to a joint examination. This operation resulted in the recovery of 3,030 cartons of codeine syrup containing 554,600 bottles.
Altogether, the seizures from Onne and Tincan ports amount to 1,284,600 bottles of codeine syrup, valued at N8,992,200,000.00, and 29,840,000 pills of tramadol, worth N8,940,000,000.00.
Additionally, on Tuesday, August 27, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers State, apprehended a suspect named Eze Emekan Don. He was caught attempting to board a Cronos airline flight to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, with 1,490 tramadol pills hidden and packaged as cosmetics within his luggage. His attempt to bribe the officers to avoid arrest was firmly rejected by the NDLEA team.
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