The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a consignment of the illicit drug, captagon, in Kwara and arrested multiple suspects in a series of operations across the country.
The NDLEA Chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Marwa said the seizure was made on April 21 along Bode Saadu Road in Kwara, where operatives intercepted a passenger, Nasiru Mu’azu, 33, with 10,000 pills of captagon and nine packets of Tapentadol.
He described captagon as a highly addictive amphetamine linked to criminal networks and insurgent groups.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives on April 24 intercepted a trailer at the same location, recovering 155,900 capsules of tramadol, 6,000 ampoules of tramadol injection, 3,000 tablets of co-codamol and 9,000 tablets of bromazepam concealed in a false compartment.
A suspect, Aminu Isah, 24, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
In Oyo State, operatives intercepted a commercial bus along the Ibadan/Oyo Expressway and arrested a 33-year-old passenger, Eze Prince Emeka, who ingested illicit drugs.
Marwa said the suspect excreted 45 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.043 kilogrammes.
He added that investigations revealed the suspect intended to traffic the drugs through trans-Saharan routes to Europe.
In Edo, NDLEA officers intercepted a truck conveying 1.19 million pills of pharmaceutical opioids along the Benin/Lagos Expressway.
Two suspects, Osagie Igbinibo, 43, and Omijie Malik, 44, were arrested.
Similarly, operatives in Lagos arrested a suspect with 810 kilogrammes of cannabis, while another suspect was apprehended in Bauchi with 154.5 kilogrammes of skunk.
In Ekiti, NDLEA recovered 466.8 kilogrammes of cannabis from a suspect’s residence, while 20,000 kilogrammes of the substance were destroyed on farmland in Cross River.
In Niger, operatives seized 394 improvised explosive device (IED) components from a suspect, who would be handed over to relevant authorities.
Marwa commended NDLEA officers in the affected states for their efforts and urged them to sustain the momentum.
He assured that the agency would continue to intensify operations to prevent illicit drugs from gaining a foothold in the country.
