NDLEA intercepts N6bn insurgents’ drugs in Lagos port —Marwa

The Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Wednesday stated that it intercepted loads of Captain, a brand of Amphetamine meant for insurgents camps in Nigeria

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) gave the details at a media briefing to update the public on the recent seizure.

Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja made public the information on the official Facebook page of the agency.

Marwa condemned the evil intent of those behind the importation of the illicit substance into the country at a very critical time when the nation is facing some security challenges.

He vowed that the Agency would not rest untill everyone connected to the consignment is arrested and prosecuted.

According to him, “Sometime in March 2021, we received intelligence from our international partners on the shipment of illicit narcotics to Nigeria from the Middle East through the Apapa port.

“We made the first attempt to examine the container on Thursday, August 26, 2021, and what we found inside the container were three (3) pieces of marble polishing machines, otherwise called sanders.

Further scrutiny on Monday, August 31, with the NDLEA sniffer dogs turned up a positive indication on the rotor coil of one of the three machines. The next day, Wednesday, 1st September, 18,560 tablets of drug suspected to be Amphetamine (Captagon) weighing 3.2kg was found deeply concealed in one of the coils.

The following day, Thursday, September 2, the other two machines were dismantled, and in all, a total of 451, 807 tablets, weighing 74.119 kilograms, were discovered hidden inside their rotor coils.

Going by the street value of about $25 per tablet, the importer would have raised $11.3million, which is equivalent to N6 billion.

“Imagine the impact of this drug in the hands of criminal gangs or a fraction of the profit from its sale being used to fuel criminalities across the country, we can think of our worst-case scenarios and they will still be farther from the repercussions that could be unleashed on the country.

“It may interest you to know that, as far as we know, this is the first time this drug is being brought into any African country South of the Sahara.

“What should give any discerning Nigerian a nightmare concerning this drug is the fact that its production and sale is controlled by militias and large criminal groups in the Middle East.

“Lest we forget, Captagon was the name of the drug found on the phone of the French-Tunisian terrorist who killed 84 civilians in France on Bastille Day in 2016.

“This is the same condition we have presently with insurgents, bandits, cultists, robbers, kidnappers and herders spilling rampaging across the country.

“Given the dark and dangerous background of Captagon, its not difficult to guess correctly that the destination for the seized drug is none other than the camps of insurgents and bandits all over the country.”

He assured Nigerians that the Agency would continue to work hard with support from local and international partners to block availability and access to all manners of illicit substances across the country.

“Given the Zero Tolerance of NDLEA for production, trafficking and abuse of any illicit substance, our approach to this discovery couldnt be casual.