Operatives of the NDLEA at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport Kano have arrested a 38-year-old drug mule, Okafor Ifeanyi Anthony, while attempting to board a Qatar Airlines flight to Iran via Doha with 76 wraps of cocaine in his stomach.
He was arrested on September 15, according to a statement by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi on Sunday.
The statement said after three days in excretion observation, Okafor excreted the 76 pellets of the ingested cocaine weighing 1.267kg.
The anti-drug agency said that its operatives have intercepted 25 million pills of tapentadol, an opioid three times stronger than tramadol and 350,000) bottles of codeine-based syrup at the Tincan port complex in Lagos.
“The seizures were made on Tuesday 17th and Friday 20th September 2024 from three containers which had been on the watchlist of the agency following processed intelligence.
“As a result, the NDLEA had requested for 100% joint examination of the shipments with men of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies,” the agency said.
The 25 million pills of tapentadol have an estimated street value of N13.7 billion, while the codeine consignment has an estimated street value of N2.4 billion, bringing the total value of the seizures to N14.9 billion.
