Three syndicates have allegedly been busted in Lagos State, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The arrests were made public by the NDLEA’s director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement he released on Sunday.
According to Babafemi, agents from the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the NDLEA brought down the three largest illegal drug cartels.
He revealed that Faith Ebele Nwankwo, a female head of one of the syndicates, was detained on August 9 at her home in the Festac neighborhood of Lagos, House 6, C Close, 3rd Avenue. She had just returned from a warehouse at Plot 3432 Sola Akinsola Street, Divine Estate, Amuwo Odofin, where she had loaded eight cartons of tramadol 225mg into an unmarked white Honda Pilot SUV.
Tramaking, a brand of Tramadol 225mg and 250mg, was found after a check of her home and warehouse turned up 2,750,000 pills, which were contained in 39 cartons and weighed 1,916 kg.
While the man was being arrested, the drugs and the SUV were found.
An earlier cocaine and Canadian Loud distribution ring was busted on August 4 after its members were located at Atlantic Nominee Estate in the Lekki-Ajah neighborhood of Lagos. They were apprehended with a Toyota Highlander SUV that was carrying 10.3 kg of Canadian Loud and 8.49 kg of cocaine that were about to be distributed.
The 55-year-old Adelakun Ilelabayo Oluade and 32-year-old Urama Chinemelum Precious were apprehended right away. Additional 18 blocks of Loud totaling 18.5kg were recovered as a result of a follow-up operation by NDLEA personnel at the residence of the first Chinemelum at House 7, Road 7, Lagra Estate, in Eti-Osa.
The next day, August 5, the third syndicate was dismantled when Udeh Vincent Ogbonna, 53, and Okonkwo Ifeanyi Uzozie, 50, were apprehended at a bus station in Jibowu, Yaba.
25 kg of ephedrine hydrochloride were about to be sent to the Southeast.
The two were members of a syndicate that was involved in the importation, distribution, and theft of the chemical used as a precursor in the manufacture of methamphetamine.