Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted a large consignment of methamphetamine concealed in powdered custard containers as part of a consolidated cargo going to London, United Kingdom, at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
The illicit drug consignment, weighing 30.10 kilograms, with a street value of N567 million, was detected and seized by NDLEA operatives at the airport on Tuesday, May 16.
The spokesman for the anti-narcotic agency, Femi Babafemi said this was swiftly followed by a series of follow-up operations that led to the arrest of a freight agent, a female suspect and ultimately the drug lord behind the shipment who was arrested at the Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos, on Thursday, May 18.
According to Babafemi, the suspect claimed to be a businessman but investigations revealed he lived with his wife and children in London until December 2022, when he fled to Nigeria after his involvement in a drug-related offence in the UK.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Adamawa arrested a 32-year-old notorious drug dealer on Monday, May 15, in the Mubi area of the state with one kilogram of skunk.
The suspect had twice been arrested and convicted of the same offence in the past.
In 2017, he was sentenced to six months imprisonment, and in 2019, he was again sent to jail for two years.
In the same vein, a trans-border trafficker was arrested on Wednesday, May 17, in Mubi following the interception of a truck from Onitsha, Anambra State, where a total of 2,376 sachets of tramadol, comprising 23,760 pills, were found concealed in three blue rubber Jerry cans that were hidden underneath the body of the trailer.
The suspect admitted the opioids were to be taken to Cameroon