NDLEA intercepts N6.5bn drugs at Lagos, Rivers ports

The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted illicit drugs worth N6.5 billion at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne in Rivers State and the Apapa seaport in Lagos State.

The illicit drugs include six million pills of opioids – tamol 225mg, tapentadol 225mg, and carisoprodol 225mg as well as 332,000 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup – with a combined street value N6,524,000,000.

The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, revealed this via a statement issued on Sunday, May 25, 2025.

Babafemi said the seizures at the Apapa and Onne ports followed intelligence and tracking of new trafficking routes to ship illicit substances into Nigeria by drug cartels, which necessitated the watch-listing of the containers for examination.

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Babafemi stated that the consignments at the Port Harcourt Ports were uncovered in two containers on Monday and Tuesday, Tuesday, May 20, during a joint examination of the shipments by NDLEA officers with the operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.

He disclosed that 170,000 bottles of codeine syrup were discovered in a watch-listed container by NDLEA operatives during a similar joint examination exercise at the Apapa port in Lagos on Thursday, May 22.

Babafemi quoted the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), as commending the anti-narcotic officers for ensuring a fair balance between drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.

The Star