NDLEA intercepts 12 containers of Tramadol at Lagos port

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted over 340 million tablets of Tramadol stashed in 12 containers at the Apapa Port in Lagos.

The agency said the contraband, which has been on its watch list since November, 2017, was discovered in 12 out of the 28 containers that were opened on Wednesday, noting that a search of the remaining containers was ongoing.

The Principal Staff Officer, Public Affairs, NDLEA, Jonah Achema, who disclosed this in an e-mailed statement on Thursday, explained that the agency had earlier tipped off the Nigeria Customs Service about the drug haul.

The statement said, “The NDLEA has uncovered over 340 million tablets of Tramadol at the Apapa seaport in Lagos.

 The tablets, which were in various dosages ranging from 120 to 250 milligrams, were recovered from 12 containers in an ongoing search of containers at the Apapa seaport

“These containers, which have been on the watch list of the NDLEA since November, 2017, were brought to the attention of the Nigeria Customs Service to be positioned for search based on the agency’s reasonable suspicion of the containers containing Tramadol.”

Achema stated that since the drug was banned by the Federal Government, the NDLEA seized in a single operation in November last year 160 million Tramadol tablets at the Apapa Port.

The drugs were said to have been imported from India, with the importers using false documents and the name of an unregistered company.

The NDLEA Chairman, Col. Muhammad Abdallah (retd), noted that the importation of Tramadol into the country was for illicit purposes, adding that the nation did not need the high volume of the opiate being brought in.

“It is doubtful that this influx of Tramadol is for legitimate uses; Tramadol, which is a derivative of opiate, is for post-surgery application; but even if everybody in Nigeria undergoes surgery every year, we do not need the quantity that enters our country. It only suggests its diversion for illicit use,” he stated.

By  Adelani Adepegba