Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a 42-year-old man taking thousands of concealed opioid pills to insurgents’ enclave in the Banki area of Borno State.

The anti-narcotics agency also arrested a six-month pregnant lady; and a mother of three children and three other women for drug trafficking, in major interdiction operations carried out by its operatives.

This was as the agency seized over 7,609 kilograms of assorted illicit drugs in eight states.

The spokesperson for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, revealed the developments in a statement on Sunday.

Babafemi said, “In Borno State, a 42-year-old suspected supplier of illicit drugs to insurgents in Banki, a border region between Nigeria and Cameroon, Ahmad Mohammed, was arrested by the NDLEA operatives on Friday, February 9, at Bama checkpoint. When his luggage was searched, 20,000 capsules of tramadol were recovered from him while on his way to deliver the opioid consignment in the border town.

“A six-month pregnant woman, Amarachi Akaolisa, 25, and another lady, Ifeoma Iheanyi, 21, were among six suspects arrested for dealing in illicit substances in Oraifite and Umuni-Evili, Aguleri, Anambra State. Others nabbed include: Okwuchukwu Chukwuka; Onyedika Ngwu; Ekene Hyginus and Nzomiwu Ikechukwu. Recovered from them were over six kilograms of cannabis, tramadol, diazepam and codeine syrup in raids conducted NDLEA operatives between Tuesday, February 6 and Thursday, February 8, in parts of the state.

“The bulk of seizures was made in Nasarawa State where the NDLEA operatives acting on credible intelligence on Sunday, February 4, intercepted a truck marked Lagos JJJ 64 YC conveying 367 jumbo bags of cannabis sativa weighing 4,037 kilograms from Akure, Ondo State to be delivered at the Shabu area of Lafia, the state capital. Three suspects: Shuaibu Liman, 35; Monday Audu, 33, and Linus Samuel, 42 have been arrested in connection with the seizure.

“In Lagos, two ladies, Boluwatife Adebayo and Omolade Fola Adebayo, were among the suspects arrested during raids in parts of the state on Saturday, February 10. While Ogah Sunday Adole and Boluwatife Adebayo were arrested at Agidingbi, Ikeja, in connection with 220grams of cannabis, 10.6 litres of codeine syrup, and other psychotropic substances, Omolade Adebayo was nabbed at Ijesha with various quantities of cannabis, codeine syrup, rohypnol and molly.”

He noted that operatives in Abuja arrested the duo of Jibrin Shuaibu, 23, and Prosper Innih, 17, with 169 bags and 80 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 1,961.5kgs concealed in a truck with registration number Ogun WDE 557 XC.

In another operation by the operatives in Abuja on Tuesday, February 6, a suspect, Abdulhameed Dauda, 27, was arrested with 89kgs of the same psychoactive substance loaded into his truck in Owo, Ondo State to be delivered at Gwagwalada in the FCT.

On the same day, he said operatives also intercepted another driver, Hassan Ade, 30, transporting 696.5kgs of the same substance loaded in Idoani, Ondo State to be delivered at Gwagwalada and Dei-Dei in FCT. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of a mother of three children, Mrs Joy Chukwuka, 42, linked with the consignment.

Babafemi added, “In Ondo State, apart from the seizure of 633.5kgs of cannabis at Eleyere, Ogbese in Akure North LGA, the NDLEA operatives also recovered 59 jumbo bags of the same substance loaded in a truck marked GAD 287 XA heading to the Northern part of the country.

“Detergents were sprayed on the cannabis bags ostensibly to suppress the odour of the psychoactive weed, while 192 packs of table water were loaded on top to conceal the illicit consignment.

“No fewer than 187kgs of the same substance were seized by operatives at Sapele Road, Benin, Edo State while in Kano, the NDLEA officers on Monday, February 5, arrested 58-year-old Bashir Attahir in Bachirawa area of the state with 216,000 pills of tramadol 250mg.”

Another suspect, Ejike Nmenme, 47, he said, was nabbed the following day Tuesday, February 6, with 25,190 capsules of tramadol and different quantities of rohypnol and codeine syrup along the Emir Road, Sabon Gari area of the city while the duo of Yusuf-Abdullahi Musa, 35, and Yusuf Musa, 28, were nabbed at Gadar Tamburawa, with 1,000 ampoules of tramadol injection on