Lagos, Nigeria – The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced a significant drug bust on Sunday, revealing that its operatives turned down a N10 million bribe offered to release a key suspect, Tsolaye Eburajolo, arrested in Lagos. The agency seized a massive haul of illicit drugs, including 26,250,000 tramadol pills and 508,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup, with a street value of over N16 billion.
The NDLEA operation, conducted between October 22 and 23 in collaboration with Nigeria Customs and other security agencies, involved a 100% joint inspection of flagged containers at Tin Can Port in Lagos and Onne Port in Port Harcourt. The drugs were uncovered in containers flagged for inspection, with the NDLEA confirming the involvement of 40-year-old Eburajolo, apprehended in the Ago Palace area of Okota, Lagos.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the N10 million bribe offered to free Eburajolo has been added to the case exhibits. Other seized items included 10 million tablets of Toradol Benzhexol, 28 drums of methamphetamine weighing 700kg, and 56 parcels of “Loud,” a synthetic form of cannabis, which arrived in Lagos from Canada.
Further investigations led to the seizure of concealed ampoules of promethazine and pentazocine injections, along with cannabis and tramadol tablets hidden in hair attachments and shoe soles destined for the United States, United Kingdom, and Oman. On October 12, 2024, the NDLEA intercepted 2,118 tramadol pills hidden in shoe soles at Lagos airport and recovered an additional 380 tablets from the home of Okenwa Kelvin Uchenna in Enugu.
Babafemi detailed another major raid on October 25, where NDLEA agents targeted the Igbo-Igunuko shrine at Alfa Beach in Ajah, Lagos, recovering 2,760kg of “Ghanaian Loud.” Three suspects were arrested: Gbenga Abiodun, Sunday Abiodun, and Ademola Oyelakin, found with 770kg of cannabis along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
In an elaborate concealment effort, Muhammad Abdullahi was found storing drugs in an underground storage area beneath his bedroom, accessible only through a hidden, padlocked iron cover disguised by a rug and his mattress. Items recovered from his residence included 11,786 pills of various psychoactive drugs and 64 bottles of codeine syrup.
The NDLEA’s latest efforts underscore their commitment to combatting Nigeria’s drug trafficking networks, with Babafemi affirming that the seized bribe money will support prosecution efforts against the suspects.
