The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) reported on Sunday that it seized 6,125 cartons of codeine syrup valued at N7.3 billion in Rivers State. Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s director of Media and Advocacy, disclosed this in Abuja. The intercepted cartons contained a staggering 1,050,000 bottles of the opioid, estimated at over N7.3 billion in street value. The seizure, made at the Port Harcourt Ports complex in Onne, Rivers State, occurred within the past four weeks and involved six containers.
The operation was executed based on credible intelligence and meticulous tracking of the consignments from their port of origin by a specialized NDLEA unit. Collaboration with the Port Harcourt Ports Command and other security agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, facilitated a comprehensive 100% joint examination of the targeted containers.
“After a thorough joint examination of the six containers,” Babafemi stated, “we recovered a total of 6,125 cartons containing 1,050,000 bottles of codeine syrup, weighing approximately 157,500 kilograms.”
In a related development, NDLEA officers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos, apprehended two passengers bound for Doha on a Qatar Airways flight during screening at terminal 2. The arrest followed positive tests for ingestion of illicit substances on Friday.
“The suspects, identified as Aikhomoun Daniel (also known as Oladapo Olanrewaju) and Ayigoro Omobolaji, were subsequently placed in observatory custody,” Babafemi continued. “During their detention, Daniel excreted a total of 90 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.022 kilograms across six excretions, while Ayigoro discharged 60 wraps of the same Class A substance, totaling 662 grams over five excretions.”
Further investigation uncovered that Aikhomoun Daniel had assumed the identity of his deceased uncle, a former resident of Germany. He confessed to adopting this identity to secure a Schengen visa for unrestricted access to Europe, while his true name is Oladapo Olanrewaju.
