NDLEA seizes N17.9bn Tramadol, Codeine at Lagos, Port Harcourt Ports

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a staggering 31 million pills of tramadol and bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over N17.9 billion at two Nigerian ports.

The seizures were made at the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state, and Tincan seaport in Lagos, following intelligence gathered by the Agency on shipments from India, NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi said on Sunday in a statement.

A breakdown of the seizures shows that 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from two containers at Tincan port in Lagos, while 447 cartons of tramadol containing 29.8 million pills were intercepted at Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne.

The breakdown also reveals that  380,000 bottles of codeine syrup were recovered from three containers at Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne and  3,030 cartons of codeine syrup containing 554,600 bottles were seized from three containers at Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne.

According to Babafemi, the tramadol shipments were hidden under different brand names, including Royal Tapetadol, Carisoprodol 225mg, and Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride 225mg.

He said this massive haul is a testament to the NDLEA’s unwavering commitment to curbing the opioid epidemic in Nigeria, as the Agency’s collaboration with the Nigerian Customs Service and other security agencies has dealt a significant blow to the opioid syndicate.

Babafemi added that this brought the total bottles of codeine seized at Onne, Rivers and Tincan in Lagos to 1,284,600 bottles worth N8,992,200,000.00 in street value while the combined seizure of tramadol stood at 29, 840,000 pills valued at N8,940,000,000.00.

He further disclosed that NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers state on Tuesday 27th August arrested a suspect, Eze Emekan Don, while attempting to board a Cronos airline flight to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea with 1,490 pills of tramadol concealed and packaged as cosmetics of different brands inside his luggage and that his attempt to compromise the officers to evade arrest was rebuffed.