NDLEA intercepts 4000kg of tramadol at Lagos airport
Many cartons of tramadol estimated at about 4000 kilogrammes have been intercepted by the Murtala Muhammed Airport command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), it was revealed yesterday.
This is just as the command arrested 85 persons over various cases of drug seizures in 2017 and 29 others in the first quarter of 2018.
NDLEA Commander at the Lagos Airport, Garba Ahmadu, who unveiled the seized tramadol to newsmen at the airport, said the interception was made through intelligence information received from its foreign counterparts.
It was learnt that the tramadol was imported into the country from India and intercepted at the cargo shed of the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL).
For about one month, no cargo agent showed up to claim the consignments prompting the agency to take possession of the items.
The NDLEA boss disclosed that the psychotropic substance consists of capsules and tablets of 225 and 125 milligrams respectively far above the 50-100 milligrams of dosage approved by the government.
Meanwhile, the agency in 2017 seized 51.520 kilograms of cocaine estimated at N386.4m in street value while 53.930 kilograms of heroin valued at 279.6m were seized from various suspects.
Out of 85 suspects arrested in 2017, 72 were males while 13 were female. A total of 1,266.400 kilograms of hard drugs consisting of cannabis sativa, methamphetamine, ephedrine and psychotropic substances like Tramadol, Rohypnol and Swinol were seized.
In the first quarter of 2018, the commander disclosed that 29 suspects comprising 25 males and four females have been arrested over 24 cases of drug trafficking with 187.22 kilograms of drugs seized.