N540m drugs seized at Lagos airport —NDLEA

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has said its Muritala Muhammed International Airport Command, Lagos, seized 73.090kg of narcotic drugs between July and September, 2013.

The drugs intercepted were worth N540m, while cocaine had the highest volume.

The agency also apprehended 23 suspected drug traffickers in possession of hard drugs within the period.

The NDLEA Airport Commander, Hamza Umar, who confirmed the third quarter performance report, said those arrested included 19 males and four females.

He said, “The MMIA Command intercepted 23 suspected drug traffickers and seized 73.090kg of various narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The seized drugs included 35.79kg of cocaine; 4.18kg of heroin; 9.120kg of methamphetamine and 24kg of cannabis.”

The Head, Public Affairs, NDLEA, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, told our correspondent on Friday that the Chairman/Chief Executive of the agency, Ahmadu Giade, said efforts were ongoing to dismantle drug trafficking syndicates in the country.

He said, “We have intelligence report on some drug cartels and we are working very hard to dismantle more drug cartels in the days ahead. Most cocaine import comes from Brazil, while methamphetamine goes out to South Africa and Europe. We hope to make a significant breakthrough in our counter-narcotics campaign efforts.”

Giade said the discovery of four clandestine laboratories in Lagos forced the cartel to relocate to other states.

“We got intelligence report that some of the drug syndicates are relocating from Lagos to other parts of the country in establishing clandestine laboratories for methamphetamine production,” he said.

He added, “We considered this intelligence vital to our operations because it led to the discovery of the clandestine laboratory in Nanka village, Anambra State. Intelligence report on other places where they relocated to is being processed and at the appropriate time the agency will carry out raid on their locations”.

The NDLEA boss noted that drug traffickers would always find seaports, airports and land borders attractive. He, however, said drug trafficking was a criminal offence that transcended national boundaries.

Giade said the agency would continue to adopt effective strategies in reducing drug trafficking to the barest minimum. He noted that Nigeria had demonstrated remarkable capacity to check the crime, which was evident in the agency’s scorecard.

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