Car parts dealer arrested for trying to export heroin and cannabis hidden in lamps and sofa legs

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested auto spare parts dealer, Ejiofor Chiwuzie, for attempting to export consignments of heroin and Loud, a strain of cannabis hidden in rechargeable LED lamps and metal sofa legs through the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos .

A statement by the anti-narcotics agency spokesman, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday said Ejiofor was arrested last Tuesday at the exhibition center in Ojo area of ​​Lagos, where he sells car spare parts, after his cargo of car parts and rechargeable lamps were seized was , sofa metal legs and electronics en route to Liberia at the Lagos airport export shed.

Babafemi said 37 packets of heroin weighing 1.1 kilograms and four blocks of heroin weighing a total of 1.2 kilograms were hidden in the LED lamps and sofa legs, adding that a quick follow-up operation led to the arrest of two cargo agents and then led by Ejiofor sent the shipment.

Attempts by drug trafficking networks to export consignments of noisy drugs, tramadol tablets, co-codamol tablets, pentazocine injections, dihydrocodeine and promethazine tablets to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Thailand and Oman through some courier companies , were foiled by NDLEA officials from the Directorate of Operation and General Investigation, DOGI, which is assigned to the logistics companies.

The spokesman said that while 2.3 kilograms hidden loudly in a cardboard box went to Thailand, 749 grams of tramadol, hidden in soles of locally made shoes, went to Oman, and 60 vials of pentazocine injection went to the United States. No fewer than 200 tablets of co-codamol were destined for Australia, while a total of 700 tablets of dihydrocodeine, promethazine and tramadol, as well as 20 ampoules of pentazocine injection hidden in the soles of shoes went to the United Kingdom and finally to Canada 58 ampoules of pentazocine injection hidden in female cloths.

He disclosed that all the seizures at the courier houses occurred between last Monday and Tuesday in Lagos.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives last Wednesday arrested wanted drug lord Ajiboye Damilare (alias Na God) after he evaded arrest for 12 months following the raid on his warehouse in Akala, Mushin area of ​​Lagos, where a total of 1,101 kilograms Ghana Loud, a strong drug dealer. The cannabis strain was recovered on September 4, 2023.

He disclosed that the arrest of Ajiboye at a bank in Ogun State was due to well-coordinated efforts by the agency’s Directorate of Assets and Financial Investigations, which located and blocked 20 bank accounts linked to the suspect.

Another NDLEA operative in Lagos last Friday took into custody a wanted community leader and Sarkin Yamma of Badagry, Alhaji Bashir Talba, following the arrest of his two wives Hauwa and Asma’u and his son Sadat and the seizure of a total of 100,000 people 226, 2 kilograms of cannabis in their homes in Badagry on September 18.

Babafemi said in another operation in Lagos last Tuesday, no less than 9.7 kilograms of Cannabis sativa and 50 liters of Monkey Tail, a fermented combination of cannabis and dry gin, were recovered from a suspected Florence Moses in Badore area of ​​Ajah, Lekki , has been secured.

In Kogi, three suspects: Owolabi Dele, 42; Ayodele Monday, 40; and Olawale Ojo, 22, were arrested by NDLEA operatives along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja highway while transporting 132 bags of cannabis weighing 2,062 kilograms in a Mercedes container truck from Osun State to Dei Dei in Abuja.

Another suspect, 57-year-old Benedict Simire, was arrested on Ayetoro Road in Kabba last Wednesday, bringing with him 33.4 kilograms of the same psychoactive substance and a pump-action gun with six cartridges.

On the same Wednesday, operatives of the NDLEA Naval Command intercepted a boat with two 40hp Yamaha engines carrying 71 bags of Ghana Loud weighing 2,982 kilograms at Alfa beach in the Lekki area of ​​Lagos.

Babafemi said men from the Western Marine Command of the Nigerian Customs Service were on the scene to assist NDLEA officials in recovering the boat and exhibits after the two suspects in the boat submerged in the water.

Also, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports complex in Onne, Rivers State, on Wednesday intercepted 1,500 cartons of codeine-based cough syrup, totaling 150,000 bottles, during a joint inspection of a 40-foot container with men of the Nigerian Customs and other security agencies.

NDLEA operatives in Niger State recovered 6,000 vials of Pentazocine injection from Chukwudi Nwanoche (38) at the former Minna city gate. Her colleagues in Kano arrested Aminu Danmanya (31) with 15,530 capsules of Tramadol at the Kano Residential Hotel, Katsina Road.

In Plateau State, officers last Friday arrested a female suspect, Jummai Luka, 58, behind Jehovah’s Witnesses junction, Kabong, Jos North Local Government Area, who was in possession of 12,000 tablets of Tramadol while NDLEA officers in Oyo State last Tuesday, Segun Asogba , 50, arrested 601 kilograms of cannabis sativa and a Danish weapon in the city of Igangan.

In Katsina, two former detainees: Muhammad Machido, 44, and Zakari Buhari, 32, were re-arrested by NDLEA operatives with illegal substances. While Muhammad was arrested last Monday along the Kano-Katsina highway in Kankia with 51,000 opioid pills, Zakari was arrested in Daura with 14 blocks of cannabis weighing 7 kilograms. Zakari was first arrested on February 8, 2024 and sentenced by the court to 15 months in prison with the option of a $15,000 fine, which he paid. In his case, Muhammad had already been arrested on December 12, 2022 with 45 kilograms of cannabis sativa and 2.5 kilograms of tramadol. He was subsequently sentenced to two years in prison.

In Biase Local Government Area of ​​Cross River State, 33-year-old Benjamin Ebei was arrested with 38 kilograms of cannabis from his vehicle. Officers in Edo State, last Tuesday, raided and arrested a house along Okpuje Road, Uzebba, Owan West Local Government Area. A suspect, Idonuan Ajilo, 53, seized 112.5 kilograms of cannabis from his shop.

NDLEA commands across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) awareness sessions and advocacy visits to worship centers, schools, workplaces, traditional rulers’ palaces and communities over the past week.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. General Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the officers and men of DOGI, DAFI, MMIA, Onne, Marine, Lagos, Kogi, Katsina, Oyo, Plateau, Niger, Kano, Edo and Cross Commands The agency’s leaders for last week’s arrests and seizures also applauded their compatriots in all commands across the country for intensifying WADA’s awareness lectures and advocacy messages in all areas of their areas of responsibility.

Michael Olugbode

Follow us on: