NDLEA busts Tramadol cartel, seizes N5bn Opioids from Lagos warehouse

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has busted another Tramadol cartel in Lagos with the seizure of millions of Opioids pills and bottles worth over N5 billion from their warehouse in the Amuwo Odofin area of the state and arrest of two of the kingpins.

The agency’s anti-narcotics officers also found a hidden skuchies laboratory in a remote part of Sagamu, Ogun State, where several equipment and various quantities of illicit substances used to mass produce the dangerous new psychoactive substance were recovered on Saturday January 14, 2023.

NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said the drug cartels took the first heat on Tuesday January 10 from determined officers of the Agency who intercepted an imported consignment of Loud, a strong variant of cannabis, weighing 4, 878.72 kilograms along Awolowo road Ikoyi, Lagos.

“After a near fatal encounter with some suspected fake security agents escorting the drugs, the NDLEA operatives succeeded in recovering the consignment with a white truck marked BDG 548 XX conveying it.

“This was followed by the seizure of 121,630 pills of pharmaceutical opioids and some quantity of Molly from a dealer, Charles Okeke on Wednesday 11th January at Idumota area of Lagos Island.

“Another effort by the Agency to bring the drug cartels to their kneels paid off on Friday 13th Jan when operatives tracked and located a major warehouse for pharmaceutical opioids at 17 Sir Ben Onyeka street, off Ago palace way in Amuwo Odofin area of the state while the owner of the store, Aloysius Okeke was arrested.

“Illicit drugs recovered from the warehouse include: Three Million Two Hundred and Sixty Four Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty (3,264,630) pills of tramadol; Three Thousand Four Hundred and Ninety (3,490) bottles of codeine and Nine Hundred and Fifteen Thousand (915,000) capsules of pregabalin 300mg,” Babafemi disclosed.

He said the massive breakthrough came on the heels of the arrest of a suspect, Olarenwaju Lawal Wahab, who distributed for the cartel same day.

“Recovered from his white Mercedes distribution bus include 14,690 bottles of codeine-based syrup; 402, 500 tablets of Tramadol 250mg; 50,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg and 210,000 capsules of pregabalin 300mg.

“In neighbouring Ogun State, operatives in the early hours of Saturday 14th January also discovered and dismantled a clandestine laboratory on the outskirts of Sagamu from where skuchies, a highly potent psychoactive substance made with a blend of Cannabis Sativa, Tramadol, Rohypnol, Exol-5 and industrial codeine, was being produced in large quantity, packaged and distributed in jerry cans and bottles.