NDLEA Intercepts Tramadol, Diazepam from NURTW Chief, three others

Abiola Seun

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has arrested a chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ijero local government area of Ekiti state, Babatunde Babade, 45, along with two others; Ilesanmi Shola, 35, and Babajide Johnson, 45, for trafficking in illicit drug.

NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement said the transport union leader was caught with 52.5kilograms of skunk in Akure, the Ondo state capital following intelligence that he was conveying bags of the banned drug in his 1997 model blue Mazda car with registration number: Ekiti JER194 AE from Akure to Ekiti state.

According to him, “Babade, popularly called BB, was taken into custody along with others soon after his arrest at about 2pm on July 18, 2021 for interrogation.

“In his statement, he admitted he owns the vehicle used for conveying the drug.”

The NDLEA further said the car was earlier intercepted by some security agents who detained the two other suspects, his car and eight bags containing cannabis sativa while his brother who drove the vehicle fled.

He, however, claimed that following Babade’s intervention, the security agents released the suspects and his car to him after taking two of the eight bags containing the drug and N60,000 from him, before he later ran into NDLEA officers while on his way back to Ekiti.

Meanwhile, officers of the Benue State command of the agency have intercepted another suspected interstate drug trafficker, 29-year-old Odinaka Ugwuanyi along Apir road, Makurdi with 124,000 tablets of Tramadol, Diazepam and Exol-5, all weighing 22.55 kilograms.

The suspect was arrested at about 8am on Saturday, July 17, 2021 in a commercial vehicle, said he is from Nsukka local government area of Enugu State.

He, however, claimed another passenger he knows who sat next to him in the vehicle dropped the bag containing the drugs with him and fled upon sighting NDLEA officers.