Bayo Akomolafe 
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized containers laden with hard drugs worth N17.9 billion ferried from India to Tincan Island and Onne ports.
The agency said yesterday that a total of 31.12 million pills of tramadol 225mg and bottles of codeine-based syrup were intercepted at the Onne and Tincan seaports.
Its spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement that the seizures were made following intelligence processed by NDLEA on the movement of the shipments from their port of origin in India, leading to a demand for a 100 per cent joint examination of the watch-listed containers with the Nigerian Customs Service and other sister security agencies.
He explained: “A breakdown of the seizures shows that 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from two containers at Tincan Port in Lagos on Thursday, August 29 and Friday, August 30. Each of the two containers had 175,000 bottles of the opioid.
“At the Port Harcourt Port complex, Onne, NDLEA personnel equally intercepted a total of 447 cartons of tramadol 225mg containing 29, 840,000 pills of the opioid as well as 380,000 bottles of codeine syrup from three containers on August, Thursday 29.”
The tramadol shipments came under different brand names such as Royal Tapetadol, Carisoprodol 225mg and Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride 225mg.”
