The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the arrest of Paul Okwuy Mbadugha, a businessman traveling to Vietnam, at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Mbadugha, who was intercepted at the boarding gate on August 12, 2024, tested positive for cocaine ingestion. He was found to have excreted 88 wraps of the drug, weighing 1.710 kilograms, after being under observation for four days.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Mbadugha claimed that he was a Lagos-based businessman who had been given the cocaine pellets by a friend in Isolo for delivery in Vietnam, with a fee of $2,000.
In related news, NDLEA operatives at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos intercepted a shipment of 800 grams of “Loud,” a synthetic strain of cannabis, hidden in noodles destined for Congo. This led to the arrest of Nnamani Sunday Sunny, the sender, who was identified as a GSM handset dealer.
Additionally, NDLEA operatives recovered a large consignment of Loud imported from Canada at Lagos Airport. The suspect, Desalu Taophic Temitope, was arrested with six boxes containing 65.80 kilograms of the drug. Desalu revealed that he and an accomplice, who is currently at large, were promised $10,000 for successful delivery.
A significant seizure occurred at Port Harcourt Ports Complex, where NDLEA operatives and Nigeria Customs officials recovered 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup, valued at N6.25 billion. The syrup was packed in 5,337 cartons, weighing 133,860 kilograms, and had been shipped from India.
In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives, supported by the Nigerian Army and community youths, destroyed 21,800 kilograms of cannabis sativa on a 20-hectare farm in the Ise forest reserve.
On August 15, 2024, NDLEA officers intercepted a Sienna bus on the Onitsha-Enugu road in Enugu State, recovering 200.2 kilograms of cannabis and arresting the driver, Okoro Emmanuel.
Other arrests included Joseph Apeh, 45, and Diamond Nnabuike, 21, who were caught with 145,400 pills of tramadol in Kano; Fidelis Egede, 70, and three others in Ogun State for a cannabis plantation raid; and Ifeanyi Chukwueze in Niger State with 28,500 tramadol pills concealed in a loudspeaker. In Kogi State, Abba Yakubu was apprehended with 40,000 pills of tramadol, and Tochukwu Onah was arrested in Lokoja with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection.
