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On Sunday, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency announced the seizure of millions of illegal substances worth N5 billion at a warehouse in the Lagos state neighborhood of Amuwo Odofin.

Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the NDLEA, stated this in a statement.

According to Babafemi, the anti-Narcotic agency arrested a suspect over the development, adding that more tramadol pills and other illicit drugs linked to the warehouse were seized in separate raids.

The statement read, “Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the weekend busted another Tramadol cartel in Lagos with the seizure of millions of opioids pills and bottles worth over Five Billion Naira (N5 billion) from their warehouse in Amuwo Odofin area of the state and arrest of two of the kingpins.

“The drug cartels took the first heat on Tuesday, 10th January, from determined officers of the agency who intercepted an imported consignment of Loud, a strong variant of cannabis, weighing 4,878.72 kilograms along Awolowo road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

“This was followed by the seizure of 121,630 pills of pharmaceutical opioids and some quantity of Molly from a dealer, Charles Okeke, on Wednesday, 11th January, at Idumota area of Lagos Island.

“Another effort by the agency to bring the drug cartels to their knees paid off on Friday, 13th January, when operatives tracked and located a major warehouse for pharmaceutical opioids at 17, Sir Ben Onyeka Street, off Ago palace way, in the Amuwo Odofin area of the state, while the owner of the store, Aloysius Okeke was arrested.

“Illicit drugs recovered from the warehouse include 3,264,630 pills of tramadol; 3,490 bottles of codeine and 915,000 capsules of pregabalin 300mg.

“This came on the heels of the arrest of a suspect, Olarenwaju Lawal Wahab, who distributes for the cartel, the same day. Recovered from his white Mercedes distribution bus include: 14,690 bottles of codeine-based syrup; 402,500 tablets of Tramadol 250mg; 50,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, and 210,000 capsules of pregabalin 300mg.”

Babafemi added that the anti-narcotics officers of the agency also “uncovered and dismantled a clandestine skuchies laboratory in a remote part of Sagamu, Ogun state, where several equipment and various quantities of illicit substances used to mass produce the dangerous new psychoactive substance were recovered on Saturday, 14th January, 2023”.

The Agency in another raid in Akure, the Ondo capital, said three suspects — Sunday Make, Nwele Friday, and Egbe Nnaemaka — were found with cannabis sativa.

Also in Edo, Katsina, and Borno, the agency said its operatives recovered cannabis sativa and arrested suspects, including Abiodun Emaria and Murtala Isiyaat.

Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairperson, encouraged officers across the country to sustain the efforts to effectively tackle drug abuse and trafficking in the country.