NDLEA uncovers 2,145kg of cannabis in fuel tanker
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a fuel tanker containing 2,145kg of cannabis concealed in a specially constructed compartment.
The 20,000-litre tanker, with registration number MKA 960 XC, was stopped along the Akoko-Lokoja expressway in Ondo State on Friday.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the NDLEA’s director of media and publicity, Femi Babafemi, said the driver allegedly ignored officers who attempted to stop the vehicle.
He reportedly drove into the premises of a church at Ugbe Akoko, abandoned the tanker and fled into a nearby bush.
A search of the vehicle uncovered 165 bags of cannabis hidden in a false compartment alongside fuel reportedly being transported to Jos, Plateau State.
The agency said the tanker had previously evaded interception, describing its eventual seizure as a significant breakthrough in efforts to dismantle drug-trafficking networks.
The operation was part of coordinated enforcement activities across Lagos, Adamawa, Ondo, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu states.
In Lagos, officers recovered 966,200 tablets of tramadol 225mg, valued at more than ₦1.1bn, from a consignment originating from Pakistan. The pills were concealed among secondhand trousers packed in 21 cartons.
Another shipment from Singapore contained 57.8kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, estimated to be worth more than ₦173m.
At Tincan port, officers intercepted 598.08kg of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies packed in a 40-foot container. The consignment was linked to an earlier seizure of 842.54kg of similar products.
In Adamawa State, 864,000 opioid pills, mostly tramadol, were recovered from a residence linked to a suspect who remains at large. Officers also seized 2kg of methamphetamine during a separate operation in Michika.
Along the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State, operatives found 636kg of cannabis concealed among bags of chicken manure in a bus travelling from Ondo to Jos.
More than 109kg of controlled substances were recovered in Taraba State from a vehicle travelling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Yola, Adamawa State. The consignment included tramadol, diazepam, pentazocine, phenobarbital, nitrazepam, bromazepam and pregabalin.
In Kaduna, officers intercepted a cement-laden truck on the Zaria-Kano expressway and recovered 1,179kg of skunk.
Operatives also destroyed a four-hectare cannabis plantation in the Efon-Alaaye forest in Ekiti State and seized 117kg of harvested skunk. In Enugu, 40,590 tramadol capsules were recovered at Ugbema Junction.
Babafemi said the operations reflected the agency’s intelligence-led strategy to disrupt the distribution of illicit substances.
The NDLEA chairman, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), commended the officers involved and urged them to sustain the agency’s approach to drug control.
Marwa said traffickers using false identities, legitimate businesses and sophisticated concealment techniques would continue to be identified and apprehended.