Operatives of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) today intercepted a huge consignment of proscribed psychotropic substances tested to be Tramadol 250mg weighing about four tonnes, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The drugs which were imported from India were seized at the warehouse of Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) where it was brought in on an Etihad Cargo flight.
Tramadol 250mg is an addictive substance proscribed for consumption in Nigeria by the federal government.
Speaking on the seizure, Commander, MMIA Special Area Command of NDLEA, Ahmadu Garba told journalists that the consignments of the proscribed brand of Tramadol 250mg was the largest intercepted in the airport.
He said interception of the proscribed drug was made possible through intelligence gathering.
He added that the 250mg brand of Tramadol was seized because it is above the recommended brands of 40 mg and 50mg which are allowed to be used for medical purposes.
The NDLEA boss said surveillance was stepped up when the agency got wind of the huge consignment of the proscribed substance and thereafter intercepted the first batch on May 23 and second batch on May 25.
He explained that NDLEA however informed Nigerian Customs Services (NCS) of the seizure of the consignments before they were moved out of the warehouse.
Speaking on the last year and part of this year’s performances before it recorded today’s seizure of four tonnes of Trammadol 250mg, MMIA Special Area Command, the NDLEA boss said 1266.40 kg of narcotics were seized in the airport in 2017 while 187.22 kg was seized within the first four months of 2018.
Giving the breakdown, Garba said 51.520 kg of Cocaine with street value of N386.4million and 53.930kg of Heroine valued at N279.6 million were seized in the airport last year. Other drugs seized at the airport in 2017 by NDLEA operatives included Cannabis Sativa 96.655Kg, Methamphine 13.205kg, Ephedrine 108.250kg, Tramadol 938.554kg, Rohypnol 3.880 and Swinol 0.400kg.
He added that a total of 85 suspects made up of 72 males and females were arrested in 70 seizures.
Garba also said that in the first four months of 2018, 1.88kg of cocaine, 4.48kg of Heroine, 15.64 kg of Cannabis sativa, 41.06kg of Methamphetamine and 89.06 kg of Ephedrine were seized in the airport. A total of 35.10kg of psychotropic substances such as Trammadol and Phenacetin were also intercepted at the airport.
The NDLEA boss who said the feat was possible because of the ingenuity of the agency’s operatives at the airport, pleaded for the upgrading of the scanning machines installed in the airport to make detection of narcotics easier.
He said most occasions the NDLEA operatives had to result to targeting, profiling and even manual screening before drugs are detected from where they are concealed by the drug couriers.
