NDLEA Officers Reject N10m Bribe From Suspected Drug Dealers
Operatives of theNational Drug Law Enforcement Agenchas recovered 26,250,000 pills of tramadol and 508,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup, with a street value of N16,683,800,000.
The pills and syrup were intercepted by NDLEA operatives during a 100% joint examination of watch-listed containers with personnel from the Customs Service and other security agencies at the Tincan Port in Lagos and the Port Harcourt Port, Onne, Rivers State, between October 22 and 23
The agency also turned down an N10 million bribe offered to free one Tsolaye Eburajolo.
Eburajolo, a 40-year-old man, was arrested in the Ago Palace area of Okota, Lagos, in connection with drugs intercepted by the officials.
The spokesperson for NDLEA, Femi Babafemi in a statement issued on Sunday, said flthe bribe offered to free the suspect has been added to the exhibits recovered from him.
The statement said, “Other illicit consignments intercepted during the joint inspection of the containers included 10 million tablets of Toradol Benzhexol and 28 plastic drums of methamphetamine weighing 700 kg at Tincan and Onne respectively, while 56 parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 28 kg, were also recovered from a container that arrived at the Lagos Port from Canada.”
“A suspect, Tsolaye Eburajolo, 40, was arrested in the Ago Palace area of Okota, Lagos, in connection with the cannabis seizure, while a bribe of N10 million offered to NDLEA officers to free the suspect has been kept as part of the exhibits for the prosecution of the case.”
Babafemi stated that NDLEA operatives also recovered no fewer than 293 ampoules of promethazine and pentazocine injection, as well as 1.690 kg of cannabis and tramadol tablets concealed in hair attachments and the soles of shoes being sent to the United States, United Kingdom, and Oman at three courier firms.
“A total of 2,118 pills of tramadol concealed in the soles of 13 pairs of shoes destined for Cyprus were seized at the export shed of the Lagos airport on 12th October 2024, and an additional 380 tablets were recovered from the home of the sender, Okenwa Kelvin Uchenna, during a follow-up operation in Enugu on Thursday, 24th October,” he added.
He noted that NDLEA operatives in Lagos, on Friday, 25th October, raided the Igbo-Igunuko shrine, located at Alfa Beach, Ajah, where jumbo bags of Ghanaian Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 2,760 kg, were recovered.
“Two suspects, Gbenga Abiodun and Sunday Abiodun, were arrested. Another suspect, Ademola Oyelakin, was also arrested the same day with 770 kg of the same psychoactive substance along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway,” he added.
Babafemi stated that a total of 11,786 pills of tramadol, molly, Rohypnol, and diazepam, as well as 64 bottles of codeine syrup, were recovered from underground storage at the residence of one Muhammad Abdullahi.
He said Abdullahi had dug a hole in his bedroom at Marwa Coastal Road, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, covered it with a padlocked iron slate and a rug, and then placed his mattress on top to avoid detection.