Port Harcourt, Rivers State — The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced a massive drug bust at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State, where operatives intercepted an estimated N7.8 billion worth of illicit substances. The operation, conducted in partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, resulted in the seizure of over 875,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 3.5 million pills of trodol benzhexol.
The discovery was made on Wednesday, August 13, and Thursday, August 14, following a period of intense intelligence tracking and surveillance. The drugs were found within five containers at the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) of the Onne port. The total street value of the recovered narcotics is estimated to be over N6.1 billion for the codeine and N1.7 billion for the trodol benzhexol.
The Port Harcourt bust comes amidst a series of significant drug-related arrests and seizures across the country. In Asaba, Delta State, NDLEA operatives apprehended a notorious drug kingpin, Sunday Ibigide, 36, who had been on the run for three years. He was caught attempting to transport 138 kilograms of skunk and was arrested along with his aide, Clement Osuya, 27.
Other major operations include the destruction of three cannabis farms spanning 15 hectares in Enugu Ezike, Enugu state, where a total of 37,500kg of skunk was destroyed. In Lagos, a 52-year-old woman, Muyibat Mumuni, was arrested with her son, Faruk, for allegedly storing and distributing 149kg of Ghana Loud.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers for the Port Harcourt bust and other nationwide operations, urging them to continue with the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
