Juliana Francis
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has
disclosed that it has uncovered over 340million tablets of Tramadol at the
Apapa Sea Ports in Lagos State.
According to the NDLEA’s spokesman, Mr. Jonah Achema,
the tablets were in various dosages and ranged from 120 to 250 milligrams. They
were recovered from 12 containers in an on-going search of containers at Apapa
sea port.
Achema said: “These containers which have been on
the watch-list of NDLEA since November 2017 were brought to the attention of
Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, to be positioned for search based on the Agency’s
reasonable suspicion of the containers containing tramadol. The Nigeria Customs Service yesterday dropped
only 28 of the 62 containers for search where 12 of the containers have been
found to contain Tramadol. The search is still on-going.”
The image maker explained that, “Tramadol is a
pharmaceutical drug which has been subject of abuse by the populace.”
He added: “In one single operation in November last
year, the Agency intercepted 160m tablets of tramadol at the Apapa Port which
ranged from 220 to 250 milligrams. They were imported from India using false
documents in the name of an unregistered company.”
According to Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (Rtd.)
Chairman/Chief Executive, NDLEA, “It is doubtful that this influx of tramadol
is for legitimate use. Tramadol which is a derivative of Opiate is for
post-surgery application but even if everybody in Nigeria undergoes surgery
every year, we do not need the quantity that enters our country. It only
suggests their diversion for illicit use.”
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