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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency turned down an N10 million bribe offered to free one Tsolaye Eburajolo.
This comes as the operatives recovered 26,250,000 pills of tramadol and 508,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup, with a street value of N16,683,800,000, which were intercepted by NDLEA operatives during a 100% joint examination of watch-listed containers with personnel from the Customs Service and other security agencies at the Tincan Port in Lagos and the Port Harcourt Port, Onne, Rivers State, between October 22 and 23.
Eburajolo, a 40-year-old man, was arrested in the Ago Palace area of Okota, Lagos, in connection with drugs intercepted by the officials.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the bribe offered to free the suspect has been added to the exhibits recovered from him.
The statement said, “Other illicit consignments intercepted during the joint inspection of the containers included 10 million tablets of Toradol Benzhexol and 28 plastic drums of methamphetamine weighing 700 kg at Tincan and Onne respectively, while 56 parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 28 kg, were also recovered from a container that arrived at the Lagos Port from Canada.”
“A suspect, Tsolaye Eburajolo, 40, was arrested in the Ago Palace area of Okota, Lagos, in connection with the cannabis seizure, while a bribe of N10 million offered to NDLEA officers to free the suspect has been kept as part of the exhibits for the prosecution of the case.”
Babafemi stated that NDLEA operatives also recovered no fewer than 293 ampoules of promethazine and pentazocine injection, as well as 1.690 kg of cannabis and tramadol tablets concealed in hair attachments and the soles of shoes being sent to the United States, United Kingdom, and Oman at three courier firms.
“A total of 2,118 pills of tramadol concealed in the soles of 13 pairs of shoes destined for Cyprus were seized at the export shed of the Lagos airport on 12th October 2024, and an additional 380 tablets were recovered from the home of the sender, Okenwa Kelvin Uchenna, during a follow-up operation in Enugu on Thursday, 24th October,” he added.
He noted that NDLEA operatives in Lagos, on Friday, 25th October, raided the Igbo-Igunuko shrine, located at Alfa Beach, Ajah, where jumbo bags of Ghanaian Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 2,760 kg, were recovered.
“Two suspects, Gbenga Abiodun and Sunday Abiodun, were arrested. Another suspect, Ademola Oyelakin, was also arrested the same day with 770 kg of the same psychoactive substance along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway,” he added.
Babafemi stated that a total of 11,786 pills of tramadol, molly, Rohypnol, and diazepam, as well as 64 bottles of codeine syrup, were recovered from underground storage at the residence of one Muhammad Abdullahi.
He said Abdullahi had dug a hole in his bedroom at Marwa Coastal Road, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, covered it with a padlocked iron slate and a rug, and then placed his mattress on top to avoid detection.
In Plateau, Babafemi reported that a suspect, Fadan Bindom, 39, was arrested in Pilgani village in possession of 65.85 kg of cannabis and 18 grams of tramadol, while another suspect, Sunday Agbata, 42, was apprehended at Pavwei – Rayfield, Jos South LGA, with 5,830 tablets and ampoules of bromazepam, diazepam, and pentazocine injection on Wednesday, 23rd October.
“A major distributor of illicit drugs in the FCT, Abuja, Umar Muhammed, 40, was nabbed on Monday, 21st October, following the earlier seizure of a consignment of 198.5 kg of cannabis linked to him at Wuse Market Park.
“In Edo State, NDLEA operatives recovered 640 kg of cannabis concealed in 80 jumbo bags of fresh vegetables at Ewu Junction, Irrua, Esan Central LGA, and arrested a suspect, Austin Oruamen, 27, while another suspect, Adereti Kazeem, 35, was arrested with 200 blocks of cannabis weighing 133 kg at Obalayan, Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Thursday, 24th October,” the statement added.
