At Onne Port, NDLEA Seizes Shipments of Fresh Codeine Worth ₦9.8 Billion Naira

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, or NDLEA, announced that on Friday, its agents stopped a shipment coming from India. It turned out to be a second batch of seven containers of the same substance, valued at over nine billion eight hundred and thirty-five million two hundred thousand naira (N9,835,200,000.00), that were being held at the Onne ports.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) stated that this follows the seizure of 6,125 codeine syrup cartons, which contained 1,050,000 opioid bottles valued at over N7,350,000,000.00 on the black market.

The seizures occurred at the same location just three weeks prior.

This was mentioned in a statement released on Friday by Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy for the NDLEA. According to Babafemi, the most recent seizure, which occurred on Thursday, is the fourth such shipment that the agency’s Maritime Special Operations Unit Targeting Team has been keeping an eye on.

The team collaborated with the agency’s Port Harcourt Ports Command and other security organizations, such as the Customs Service, to conduct a comprehensive joint examination of the targeted containers.

This, he claimed, came after months of meticulously following the shipments from their port of departure and obtaining reliable intelligence.

During the joint inspection of the containers on Thursday with other law enforcement organizations, all seven of the containers were discovered to contain 8,774 cartons of cough syrup containing codeine, with 1,229,400 bottles weighing 184,410 kg altogether.

An overview of the many products shipped on the Maersk Vigo vessel from India. The shipment consists of multiple containers filled with various goods, such as:

Container Sealed Unit SEKU 6439421:

875 codeine boxes (175,000 bottles, 26,250 lb) Seventy cartons of cutters for chili

55 cartons containing 1,100 kg of Hyregra pills (CMAU 9410422 Container)

875 codeine boxes (175,000 bottles, 26,250 lb)—Fifteen chili cutter cartons

60 boxes containing 1,200 kg of Hyregra pills

TLLU 7595503 Container: 1,754 cartons containing 179,400 bottles weighing 26,910 kg of codeine syrup

TRHU 515117, CMAU 7877125, CMAU 8533700, and CMAU 3882205 are the other four containers. Each of the 175,000 bottles of codeine (along with other things like diclofenac, hyregra pills, and chili cutters).

In reaction to the most recent seizure, Brig Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), the Chairman of the NDLEA, praised the men and women officers of the agency’s various formations who had been working on the targeted containers for months for their professionalism, diligence, and vigilance.

Marwa also expressed gratitude for all of the assistance from the port workers that made the activities to target the shipments successful.

The cartels behind the shipments have suffered severe financial losses as a result of the flawless operation, he claimed.