The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted two consignments of synthetic cannabis, popularly known as Colorado or “Colos”, concealed in consolidated cargoes from the United Kingdom, as operatives recovered more than 2.3 tonnes of assorted illicit drugs in raids across eight states.
The operations also led to the arrest of a real estate agent, a 70-year-old woman and several other suspects, while the drugs were concealed in unusual items including music speakers and loaves of bread.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 27 parcels of Colos weighing 32.20kg in a UK-bound consignment. A real estate agent, Abideen Jide Salami, who allegedly arrived to collect the luggage using a secret code sent by his UK-based brother, was arrested on September 9. A second UK-linked shipment yielded another 12.25kg of Colos, leading to the arrest of 44-year-old Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri.
In Lagos, operatives also recovered Colos concealed inside music speakers at Maza Maza Motor Park, where Ifeanyi Obed Augustine, 41, and Obasi Ugochuckwu, 46, were arrested. Another suspect, Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry, was arrested at Iddo Park while allegedly attempting to dispatch 2.1kg of Colos to Kano. In Delta, suspects Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi were arrested in separate operations involving pentazocine, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam and MDMA, with some of the drugs also hidden in speakers.
The biggest single seizure came in Kano, where 20-year-old Saidu Adamu was arrested with 785,000 Pregabalin capsules weighing 669.425kg. Another suspect, Habibu Sabitu, 28, was arrested with 1,700 diazepam tablets concealed inside loaves of bread. In Plateau, 51-year-old Chinedu Uzor was arrested at Katako Market, Jos, with 157,100 tramadol capsules.
NDLEA operations also uncovered large quantities of cannabis across Edo, Ondo, Kaduna and Bayelsa. The agency destroyed 4,832.56kg of skunk on cannabis farms in Edo, recovering 186kg of skunk from a Toyota Avalon in Ondo, while Hannah Michael was arrested in Kaduna with 369.6kg of cannabis. In Bayelsa, four suspects, including 70-year-old Godwoman Gboriye, were arrested with 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers involved and urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced drug-control strategy by shutting down trafficking routes through airports, seaports, land borders and areas where cannabis is cultivated.
