Authorities have apprehended a 70-year-old grandmother, Selifat Funke Cole, and her son, Babajide Ayorinde Cole, on charges of drug trafficking.
On Thursday, December 21, the pair was apprehended in Lagos by officials from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The spokesperson for the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, revealed this information in a statement issued on Sunday. According to Babafemi, the NDLEA conducted a raid on a residence in the Mushin area of Lagos, leading to the arrest of the suspects with 117.900 kilograms of cannabis sativa.
“On Thursday, December 21, NDLEA operatives raided a house in Mushin area of Lagos where a 70-year-old grandma, Selifat Cole, and her son, Babajide Cole were arrested with 117.900kg of cannabis saliva,” he said.
He reported that the NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja intercepted a total of no less than 7,500,000 pills of tramadol 225mg. The substance had been trafficked through the import shed of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc at the airport. Officers, in collaboration with personnel from the Nigeria Customs and other stakeholders, successfully intercepted the consignment.
This cargo, taken into custody on Friday, December 22, arrived via a Turkish airline and lacked information regarding its country of manufacture or origin.
“Apart from being the first time such shipment would be seized on the airline’s flight, it was equally the first of such coming from Hamburg, Germany. The 7.5 million tramadol 225mg pills were also specially designed and packaged as tamol-x concealed in 100 big cartons weighing 7,150kg, which arrived in the country on December 11 and were placed under surveillance until last Friday.
“Preliminary tests of the tablets proved positive for tramadol hydrochloride,” the spokesman said.
Similarly, on Wednesday, December 20, the operatives from the Lagos command of the agency carried out a search operation at two establishments identified as Chex Mat Global Link Limited located at the Trade Fair complex in the Ojo area of Lagos.
According to Babafemi, a total of 258 cartons of cough syrup containing codeine and eight cartons of codeine tablets were found during the operation. These cartons comprised 49,200 bottles of codeine syrup and 46,200 tablets of the same opioid.