NDLEA intercepts over 5,000 Rohypnol pills hidden in noodle packs at Lagos airport
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has seized over 5,960 pills of Rohypnol at the Murtala Muhammed international airport in Lagos.
In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said the drugs were packaged for shipment to Johannesburg, South Africa.
He added that the agency’s operatives intercepted it at the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc. (SAHCO) import shed in the airport on December 14.
He added that the pills were hidden in 60 packs of noodles at the point of discovery.
“A female freight agent, Olaleye Adeola, has already been arrested in connection with the noodles consignment,” Babafemi said.
In another development, the agency said its operatives seized more than 600,000 pills of 225mg tramadol brought in from Karachi, Pakistan, in two separate shipments on Ethiopian Airlines flights.
In yet another operation, 1,154,500 pills of tramadol, Rohypnol and Exol were intercepted in Gombe.
According to Babafemi, the seized substances were being moved from Anambra and Umar Hassan, the truck driver, was also arrested.
“In Gombe State, 1,154,500 pills of tramadol, Rohypnol and Exol being transported from Onitsha in Anambra to Gombe by a truck driver, Umar Hassan, 28, were seized,” he said.
“The drugs were intercepted on Thursday, Dec. 15 at a by-pass area of Gombe.”
Similarly, Chibuzor Akunne, identified as a trader at Balogun market on Lagos Island, was arrested over his alleged attempt to export a tramadol consignment to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Babafemi said the consignment was seized at the Lagos airport on November 25 in an operation that involved officers of the zone 2 police headquarters in Lagos.