The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced on Sunday that its operatives intercepted 52 suspected counterfeit travelers cheques valued at $17.7 million. The cheques were concealed in children’s books and were being transported to Malaysia via Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight.
According to a statement by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi in Abuja, the interception took place on July 4 at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. A freight agent linked to the consignment has been arrested.
The cheques, suspected to be counterfeit, along with the arrested individual, will be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation.
In a separate operation at the Seme border on July 5, NDLEA operatives seized 718 large parcels of skunk cannabis, weighing 359kg, from a storage facility in the Baba-Pupa area.
Additional operations along the Okene–Lokoja highway led to the interception of 10,000 tramadol 225mg and co-codamol pills, as well as 1.05kg of “Colorado,” a synthetic cannabis strain. Follow-up investigations resulted in the arrest of suspects at Jabi Park in Abuja.
In Osun State, two suspects were arrested on July 3 in the Ajegunle area of Osogbo with 13,901 pills and ampoules of various opioids. Another suspect was detained at a patent medicine store on Arubidi Street, Ile-Ife, with 48,205 opioid pills.
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A raid on a vulcanizing shop at Akindeko Junction, Alekuwodo, Osogbo on July 1 led to the arrest of three individuals in possession of 1,250 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 850 tramadol pills, and three bottles of codeine-based syrup.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign across the country. Recent awareness programs included sensitisation lectures delivered at Queen of Angels Secondary School, Mgbidi, Enugu State; Divine Purpose College, Eyita, Ikorodu, Lagos; Al-Furqan College, Kankia, Katsina; and Gomari Binta Suga community in Maiduguri, Borno State.
