The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dealt a major blow to a transnational drug trafficking network after intercepting 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in specially modified trailers used to smuggle the illicit drugs into Nigeria through the Togo-Benin Republic corridor.
According to the agency, the intelligence-led operation resulted in the interception of two long trailers along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The first truck, intercepted on July 2 while heading to Kano, concealed 853,000 tablets of 250mg tramadol beneath its cargo floor. Its 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru, was arrested.
Two days later, operatives tracked down a second trailer transporting another 777,000 tramadol pills hidden in a similar fabricated compartment. The driver, Muhammed Nuhu, also 22, was taken into custody.
The NDLEA disclosed that investigations linked the two consignments to an earlier seizure of 558,900 tramadol pills intercepted on June 21, revealing that all three shipments were orchestrated by the same cross-border drug trafficking syndicate.
The agency said the successful operation highlights its intensified crackdown on organised drug cartels exploiting Nigeria’s borders to transport illicit substances into the country. It added that investigations are ongoing to apprehend other members of the trafficking network.
