Agents of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have intercepted a truck loaded with over 320,000 tramadol tablets and taken a man into custody over the haul. The seizure was part of a multi-state operation targeting drug trafficking networks.

Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s spokesperson, identified the elderly suspect as Usman Bokina Bajama, also known as “Clemen”. He was picked up in the early hours of Tuesday, September 20, at Anguwan Sate, Mararraban Tola, Mayo Belwa LGA in Adamawa State. During the raid, operatives also destroyed a cannabis farm and recovered 49kg of the substance.

The week-long sweep across seven states led to the confiscation of 1,001,387 bottles and capsules of banned substances including Akuskura and tramadol, plus 2,536kg of cannabis. NDLEA officers also cleared more than 10 hectares of cannabis plantations in Edo and Adamawa.

In Kwara, officers intercepted 19,878 bottles of Akuskura along the Ilorin-Jebba highway and arrested Oladokun Oluwaseun, 49, and Ibrahim Jimoh, 27. The pair claimed the drugs were loaded in Ibadan for distribution in Jos. Earlier, two other suspects were caught at Mararaba Park, Ilorin with 2,290 tramadol capsules and 100 bottles of codeine syrup traced to Onitsha.

Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), NDLEA Chairman, praised the officers for the coordinated operation and stressed the agency’s resolve to choke off supply chains for illicit drugs across Nigeria.

Sources: NDLEA official statement, Daily Trust, Vanguard, Punch.