Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Chinese national, Liang Tak You who had 50 parcels of Loud in his possession upon his arrival at the Muritala Muhammed Airport, Lagos State.
Disclosing this in a statement on Sunday, the Director of Media and Advocacy to the agency, Femi Babafemi, revealed that the suspect was arrested on Friday when he arrived in Nigeria from Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.
According to Babafemi, Liang was tracked from his port of departure following credible intelligence to the agency.
He stated; “The suspect, who arrived in Nigeria from Bangkok via Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on an Emirates Airline flight, is a Chinese national, naturalised and based in Malaysia, but flew to Thailand where he picked up two suitcases filled with 50 parcels of Loud weighing 26.10kg before heading to Nigeria via the UAE.
“Upon his arrival at the Lagos airport, the NDLEA operatives who were tracking his movement from his port of departure allowed him to pass through the necessary protocols before picking him up on his way out of the airport.”
In another operation, the spokesperson also disclosed that an octogenarian, Grace Ekpeme, was arrested in the Calabar South area of Cross River State with items suspected to be skunk in an intelligence-led operation.
Also, another suspect, Chidi Agbafo, was arrested along the Epe-Ajah Expressway, while taking consignments of 21.7kg of Colorado.
He disclosed that the items were packed in moimoi cooking sachets and 3.8litres of codeine based syrup were also intercepted in a commercial bus to deliver in Warri and Oghara, Delta State.
Babafemi continued, “The octogenarian grandma, Grace Ekpeme, was arrested at Edet-Nsa Street, Base Site, Calabar South, Cross River State, with over 3kg of skunk in the early hours of Saturday, July 26, following intelligence on her drug-dealing activities.
“At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, a total of 101kg of Canadian Loud factory, packed in 202 tins of imported food items labelled Bean Salad Mix and concealed in two Toyota Sienna buses in a container that came from Canada, were recovered. The discovery was made during a joint examination of the container by the NDLEA officers, men of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on Friday, July 25.
“No fewer than 71,000 pills of tramadol, diazepam, and exol-5 were recovered from Usman Musa by the NDLEA operatives on patrol along Abuja-Kaduna Highway on Wednesday, July 23, when the suspect was travelling with the consignment of opioids in a commercial bus going to Kano.”
In another operation in Borno, the operatives recovered 30.1kg of skunk from a lady, Binta Usman, leading to the arrest of her suspected accomplice, Bala Abdullah, in Maiduguri, the state capital.
Also, three brothers; Nanna Ozirinye, Chizom Ozirinye and Maxwell Ozirinye, were arrested during a raid of a cannabis plantation located at Bend Corner forest, in the Idoani area of Ose Local Council, Ondo State, on Saturday where 2,500 kilograms of skunk were destroyed.
The statement added; “In Edo State, the NDLEA officers on Wednesday, raided the Asakpa community in Benin City, where they arrested a 26-year-old lady, Bright Sunday Okon, and recovered various quantities of Colorado, Loud, Arizona and skunk, all strains of cannabis, as well as Methamphetamine from her.
“While a total of 105.4kg of skunk was recovered by the NDLEA operatives from an abandoned Honda car marked ABC 204 KM in Keffi, Nasarawa state, their counterparts in Niger State on Monday arrested a suspect, Bashir Abdullahi, with 6,400 pills of tramadol 225mg at Kasuwan Gwari area of Minna.
“A notorious drug dealer, Jamiu Omolaja, was taken into custody and 113kg of skunk retrieved from his enclave in Ifo, Ogun State, on Thursday after a violent resistance and attack on NDLEA operatives by members of his gang.”
In another operation on Saturday, Babafemi disclosed that 10,910 capsules of tramadol were seized from one, Adamu Adamu, along the Gombe-Bajoga road, Gombe State.
He added that a consignment of skunk, concealed inside garri, dried scent leaves, and other food items, was intercepted along the Okene-Lokoja highway, Kogi State.
He stated; “A follow-up operation in Abuja led to the arrest of 27-year-old Kindness Bala, who was planning to travel to Katsina state with the cargo and later to Qatar. Similarly, operatives in Kogi on Saturday recovered 23,600 pills of tramadol, 300 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 700 grams of skunk from a truck at a motor park in Ayingba area of the state.”
