Ten months after his arrest by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency,NDLEA , a notorious drug kingpin in Alaba Rago area of Ojo, Lagos, Alhaji Surajo Mohammed has been convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment in a ruling by Justice Yellin Dogoro of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
the Judge however gave the convict an option of seven million naira fine.Surajo was arrested with 941.15kgs cannabis on Monday 20th December 2021.
Meanwhile,desperate attempts by the tramadol drug cartel to smuggle into Nigeria over Two Million Four Hundred and Sixty-Five Thousand (2, 465, 000) tablets of the pharmaceutical opioid in 225mg and 250mg, weighing Two Thousand, Three Hundred and Fifty Six kilograms (2,356kgs) with an estimated street value of One Billion, Forty Million Naira (N1, 040, 000, 000) through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos have been foiled by operatives of the NDLEA.
The seizure of the drug on Friday 7th October came barely a week after about 13.5million pills of the same opioid worth over N8.8billion were recovered by NDLEA operatives from one of the mansions of a billionaire drug baron in the highbrow residential estate, Victoria Garden City, VGC, Lekki Lagos.
Following credible intelligence, the Agency had shown interest in the consignment of 52 cartons that came into Nigeria from Karachi, Pakistan with six different airway bills via Ethiopian Airline flight, comprising seven cartons of 250mg of a brand called tamral and 45 cartons of 225mg, branded as tramaking.
Soon after its arrival at the Lagos airport, the NDLEA called for a joint examination of the consignment with other stakeholders and after its information was confirmed by all, the 52 cartons of the seized substance which are above the recommended threshold for medical use and banned in the country, were moved to the Agency’s facility.
In the same vein, another bid to export through the airport 15 parcels of cannabis and 600grams of tramadol 225mg concealed in a sack of crayfish to Dubai, UAE was equally thwarted by operatives who seized the consignment and subsequently arrested a freight agent, Osahor Alex Ekwueme, who presented it for export.
While commending the operatives of the Agency, for their unrelenting efforts, Chairman of NDLEA, Retired Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa urged them to remain steadfast, resolute and unrelenting until the last gram of illicit drugs is taken away from the streets of Nigeria.
Action Now Against Drug Abuse 