The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted illicit substances – methamphetamine and opioids- at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja in Lagos.
A statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by the Director, Media and Advocacy NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, said that the drugs were bound for countries in Europe.
He said that the illicit substances were concealed in walls of carton, winter jackets and body cream containers, with two of the consignments bound for Italy.
Babafemi said that the desperate attempt by members of the Drug Trafficking Organisations (DTOs) to move the consignments were foiled on Friday, March 20, while two suspects were arrested.
“One of them, a 37-year-old, was going to Rome, Italy on Friday, March 20, when he was intercepted while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airline flight.
“The suspect was with 2,698 pills of tramadol 225mg, concealed in containers of skin light body cream, all packed in the suspect’s luggage.
“In his statement, the suspect, who is a resident of Milan, confirmed that he was to be paid a negotiated fee in Euros, if he had succeeded in trafficking the consignment to Italy,” Babafemi said.
In another drug bust, the NDLEA operatives at the departure hall of the Lagos airport on Wednesday, March 18, intercepted a passenger, who was attempting to board a Lufthansa Airline flight to Milan, Italy.
Babafemi said that upon a thorough search of his luggage, no fewer than 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg; 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg, all concealed in two large winter jackets were recovered from him.
According to him, the total number of opioids was 28,470 pills.
“The 38-year-old suspect is also a resident of Milan”, he said.
Meanwhile, at a courier firm in Lagos, NDLEA officials on Monday, March 16, also intercepted two parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, weighing 1kg, hidden in a carton shipped to Lagos from the U.S.
Babafemi further said that operatives of NDLEA thwarted an attempt to export 158 grammes of methamphetamine concealed in the walls of a carton bound for New Zealand.
