NDLEA nabs businesswoman over Italy, South Africa-bound drug shipments at Lagos airport; recovers 1million pills of opioids in Borno, Anambra raids

An Italy-based businesswoman Cynthia Akaeen was on Wednesday 18th December arrested by NDLEA officers while trying to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Italy via Addis Ababa. The suspect was intercepted at the departure point of terminal 2 of the Lagos airport during an outward clearance of passengers going to Italy. A total of 9,190 tablets of various brands of tramadol weighing 6.00kg were recovered from her. According to her, she was promised 1,000 Euros upon successful delivery of the consignment in Italy.

In a related development,  No fewer than 418,330 pills of tramadol 225mg, 100mg and tapentadol 250mg as well as 8,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from a warehouse at a building material market in Onitsha, Anambra state on Tuesday 17th December when NDLEA operatives raided the market following credible intelligence.

At the Tincan Island port in Lagos, a total of 180,000 bottles codeine syrup were recovered on Wednesday 18th December from a container, which originated from Mundra, India. The seizure was made during a joint examination of the container by men of NDLEA, Customs, DSS, police, and other security agencies at the port, while a suspect Makata Emmanuel, who is the consignee and notify party, was promptly taken into custody.

A total of 293,000 capsules of tramadol, a pistol and 26 rounds of 7.65mm live ammunition were recovered from the duo of Ishaya Wabba, 54, and Samaila Audu, 44, when they were arrested in a Toyota Sienna bus at Pompomari Bypass, Maiduguri, Borno state, while another suspect Sanusi Abdul Hamid, 37, was nabbed at Gwange area of the state capital with 260, 000 capsules of the same psychoactive substance on Monday 16th December.