NDLEA officers nab drug suspect, reject N10m bribe

On Sunday, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency agents said that they declined a N10 million bribe to release Tsolaye Eburajolo, a drug suspect who had been detained earlier in Lagos.

During a 100% joint examination of watch-listed containers with Nigeria Customs Service and other security agency personnel at the Tin Can Port in Lagos and Port Harcourt port, Onne, Rivers State, between October 22 and 23, the NDLEA operatives seized 508,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 26,250,000 tramadol pills valued at N16,683,800,000 in street value.

A 40-year-old guy named Eburajolo was taken into custody in Okota, Lagos' Ago Palace neighbourhood in relation to drugs that the authorities had seized.

In a statement released on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the bribe offered to free the suspect had been added to the exhibits recovered from the suspect.
In addition, 56 packages of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 28 kg, were found in a container that arrived at the Lagos port from Canada, the statement said. "Other illegal consignments intercepted during the joint inspection of the containers include 10 million tablets of Toradol Benzhexol and 28 plastic drums of methamphetamine weighing 700 kg at Tincan and Onne respectively."

"A bribe of N10 million paid to the NDLEA officers to free the suspect has been retained as part of the exhibits for the prosecution of the case. A suspect, Tsolaye Eburajolo, 40, was arrested in the Ago Palace area of Okota, Lagos, in connection with the cannabis seizure."

According to Babafemi, the NDLEA agents also found 293 ampoules of injections of promethazine and pentazocine, 1.690 kg of cannabis, and tramadol tablets hidden in the soles of shoes and hair attachments that were being shipped to the US, UK, and Oman at three courier companies.

"On October 12, 2024, 2,118 tramadol pills hidden in the soles of 13 pairs of shoes headed to Cyprus were found at the Lagos airport's export shed, and 380 more tablets were found at the residence of the sender, Okenwa Kelvin Uchenna, during a follow-up operation in Enugu on Thursday, October 24," he continued.

He claimed that on Friday, October 25, NDLEA agents in Lagos conducted a raid at the Igbo-Igunuko temple, which is situated at the Alfa Beach, Ajah, where jumbo bags of Ghanaian Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 2,760kg, were recovered.
Gbenga Abiodun and Sunday Abiodun, two suspects, were taken into custody. Along the Lagos-Ibadan Motorway, another suspect, Ademola Oyelakin, was also taken into custody that same day with 770 kg of the same psychoactive substance, he continued.

According to Babafemi, 64 bottles of codeine syrup and 11,786 pills of tramadol, molly, Rohypnol, and diazepam were found in the underground storage at the home of Muhammad Abdullahi.

He claimed that in order to prevent being found, Abdullahi dug up his bedroom at Marwa Coastal Road, Lekki Phase 1 Lagos, covered it with a rug and padlocked iron slate, and then placed his mattress on top.