NDLEA intercepts 31 million pills, bottles of opioids in Lagos, Port Harcourt
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Sunday, September 1, said it intercepted over 31 million pills of tramadol 225mg and bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N17.9 billion at the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state and Tincan seaport in Lagos.
Femi Babafemi, the spokesperson for the NDLEA in a statement said the operation followed an intelligence report by the agency over the shipment of these drugs from India.
According to Babafemi, the operation was carried out with the help of the Nigeria Customs Service and other sister agencies.
A breakdown of the seizures indicated that 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from two containers at Tincan port in Lagos on Thursday and Friday.
His words, “The tramadol shipments came under different brand names such as Royal Tapetadol, Carisoprodol 225mg and Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride 225mg.
“This brings the total bottles of codeine seized at Onne, Rivers and Tincan in Lagos to 1,284,600 bottles worth N8,992,200,000 in street value while the combined seizure of tramadol stood at 29, 840,000 pills valued at N8,940,000,000,” he said.