Freight Agent, Trader Arrested As NDLEA Intercepts 1.7million Opioid Pills Concealed In Noodles Packs At Lagos Airport

No less than one million seven hundred and sixty thousand four hundred and sixty (1,760,460) pills of Tramadol and other opioids, which were hidden in indomie noodles packs and others, have been intercepted by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA. 

The pills were interveored at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos. 

Spokesperson of the agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, December 18, 2022, said a female freight agent was arrested in connection with the noodles consignment.

“While over 600,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg coming from Karachi, Pakistan in two separate shipments on Ethiopian Airlines flights were intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA at the SAHCO import shed of the Lagos airport on Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th December; 5,960 pills of Rohypnol concealed in 60 packs of indomie noodles going to Johannesburg, South Africa were also seized at the SAHCO export shed of the airport on Wednesday 14th December. A female freight agent, Olaleye Adeola has already been arrested in connection with the noodles consignment,” the statement read. 

In a related development, a trader at Balogun market in Lagos Island, Akunne Chibuzor Tochukwu was on Tuesday 13th Dec arrested in collaboration with the Zone 2 Police Headquarters, Lagos over his attempt to export a Tramadol consignment to Dubai, UAE.

The consignment was seized at the Lagos airport by NDLEA operatives on 25th November while a market labourer, Oke Abosede Ronke whose services were requested to convey the drug for export had earlier been arrested.

While commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos command for their commitment and vigilance leading to the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) urged them and their compatriots across other formations to continue to surpass their past records of achievements.