The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered and seized seven watch-listed containers filled with opioids and codeine-based syrup worth over ₦9.3 billion at the Port Harcourt Port Complex (PHPC), Onne.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, announced the seizure in a statement released on Sunday in Abuja.
Between Wednesday, May 28, and Friday, May 30, NDLEA operatives, working alongside the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other security agencies, jointly examined the containers.
They uncovered 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and Trodol, with a street value of ₦5.77 billion. In addition, the team recovered 5.1 million pills of opioids, mainly tapentadol 225mg, valued at ₦3.57 billion.
With this haul, the total street value of the seized drugs reached ₦9,346,400,000.
In a related operation on Tuesday, May 27, NDLEA agents discovered 390 compressed blocks of skunk, a strong strain of cannabis, inside an abandoned Toyota Sienna van (YLA-408GG) along Ngurore–Yola Road in Adamawa State.
The skunk weighed 275.3kg, and officials believe it was part of a large-scale trafficking network.
On Saturday, May 31, NDLEA operatives in Kwara State arrested a notorious female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, in the Oja Oba area of Ilorin.
They recovered various quantities of tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine syrup from her residence.
Also on Friday, May 30, NDLEA officers conducting a routine patrol along the Kano–Maiduguri Road stopped two men—Abubakar Hussein (42) and Sahabi Adamu (53)—with $900,000 in cash suspected to be counterfeit.
The agency transferred the suspects and the fake currency to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.
WADA Sensitization Campaigns Spread Nationwide
Beyond enforcement, NDLEA intensified its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities across Nigeria during the past week.
Some of the educational outreach events included:
A lecture at Government Day Senior Secondary School, Kwasarawa, Katsina
A campaign at Corpus Christi College, Achi, Enugu
A workshop at Epignosis Standard College, Onitsha, Anambra
These campaigns aim to educate young Nigerians and reduce the demand for illicit drugs.
