The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says a 33 year old businessman has excreted 45 wraps of cocaine after he was intercepted on a commercial bus in Oyo State, just as operatives seized a fresh consignment of the terror drug Captagon and other hard drugs in Kwara and several other states.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement that the latest Captagon bust came almost five years after the agency recorded Africa’s first seizure of the amphetamine pill at Apapa seaport in Lagos. Operatives on patrol along Bode Saadu road in Kwara State on April 21 stopped a trailer conveying passengers and recovered 10 packs of Captagon containing 10,000 pills and nine packets of Tapentadol 250mg from 33 year old suspect Nasiru Mu’azu.
Babafemi described Captagon as a tiny, highly addictive pill widely abused in the Middle East that produces intense euphoria, keeps users awake for days and makes them fearless and reckless. He noted that its production and sale are controlled by militias and criminal networks linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), both as a funding source and as a battlefield stimulant.
In another operation at the same Bode Saadu axis on April 24, NDLEA officers intercepted a trailer marked RMY‑70XA and uncovered a false compartment built under the vehicle. A search led to the seizure of 155,900 tramadol capsules, 6,000 ampoules of tramadol injection, 3,000 Co‑Codamol tablets and 9,000 Bromazepam tablets, with 24 year old suspect Aminu Isah arrested at the scene.
In Oyo State, operatives on April 21 stopped a commercial bus with registration number MNA 963 ZY at Akinyele on the Ibadan–Oyo expressway en route Sokoto. Passenger Eze Prince Emeka, 33, was subjected to a body scan which confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs; he was placed under observation and excreted a total of 45 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.043kg in three batches.
Investigations showed Emeka intended to travel by road to Sokoto to avoid airport checks, then rest, excrete the pellets, re‑ingest them and continue through trans‑Saharan routes with Algeria as a transit point and Europe as a possible final destination.
NDLEA also reported multiple large seizures of cannabis and pharmaceutical opioids in other states. In Edo, officers on the Benin–Lagos expressway on April 25 intercepted a truck marked NLC 146 FC carrying 1,196,000 pills of assorted opioids, arresting suspects Osagie Igbinibo, 43, and Omijie Malik, 44, over consignments bound for Onitsha, Anambra State.
In Lagos, 40 year old Rasheed Ibuowo was arrested on the Mile 2 expressway on April 25 while conveying 810kg of “Arizona” cannabis, while in Bauchi, 35 year old Muktar Bello was caught on April 22 on Misau road, Azare/Katagun LGA, with 288 blocks of skunk weighing 154.5kg.
In Ekiti, NDLEA operatives recovered 466.8kg of skunk from the home of 56 year old Layit John Matthew on Ilaro Street, Isinbode‑Ekiti, which he allegedly planned to move to Yola, Adamawa State. In Cross River, about 20,000kg of cannabis grown on eight hectares of farmland were destroyed in Uyanga community, Akamkpa LGA, during a raid supported by soldiers that also yielded 170kg of processed cannabis.
Officers in Niger State seized 394 pieces of improvised explosive device (IED) components on April 22 from 26 year old Mohammed Aliyu along Kontagora–Zuru road; he was transporting the materials in a red Toyota car marked KNT 617 AE to Shadadi in Mariga LGA. NDLEA said the suspect and exhibits will be handed over to the relevant security agency for further investigation.
The agency added that its Commands nationwide continued War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities, including lectures in Niger, Kano, Katsina and Lagos, and an advocacy visit by Zone 4 Commander ACGN Bridget Viashiama to Nasarawa State governor Abdullahi Sule.
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) commended officers in Kwara, Oyo, Edo, Cross River, Bauchi, Ekiti, Niger and Lagos for the arrests and seizures. He hailed the Captagon interception as a major blow to terror linked drug syndicates and vowed that operatives would remain on high alert to prevent traffickers from reviving the deadly trade.
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