NDLEA arrests 80-year-old grandfather with drugs, seizes 14.9 billion naira worth of opioids

80-year-old grandfather Aremu Shojobi was arrested by officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency with 14 kilograms of cannabis.

According to the agency, Shojobi admitted to selling illegal drugs for the past 25 years.

A statement released on Sunday by agency spokesman Femi Babafemi said the suspect obtained the drugs from the Republic of Benin.

Babafemi said: “Operators of the Lagos State Strategic Command on Friday, September 20, arrested an 80-year-old grandfather, Pa Aremu Shojobi, with 14 kilograms of cannabis from his house in Iyana Ipaja area of ​​the state. In his statement, the octogenarian claimed that he had been in the business of selling illegal drugs for 25 years. He further claimed that he sources his supplies from Benin Republic and sells to his customers from his residence between 7am and 10pm daily.”

Babafemi also reported that a total of 25 million tablets of tapentadol – an opioid three times stronger than tramadol – and 350,000 bottles of codeine syrup were seized at the Tincan port complex in Lagos.

He added that the seizures occurred on September 17 and 20, 2024, in three containers that were on the agency's watch list based on processed intelligence.

“The NDLEA therefore called for a 100 percent joint investigation of the consignments with officials of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies. The 25 million Tapentadol pills have an estimated street value of N13,725,000,000 while the Codeine shipment has an estimated street value of N2,450,000,000, bringing the total value of the seizures to N14,950,000,000.

“The Tapentadol shipment, packed in 500 cartons, was discovered in one of the containers on Tuesday, September 17, while another container examined on the same day contained 175,000 bottles of Barcadin cough syrup with codeine, packed in 875 cartons. The third container, containing 175,000 bottles of CSC cough syrup with codeine, was examined on Friday, September 20,” the statement added.

Similarly, Babafemi reported that on September 18, NDLEA operatives raided the houses of the community leader and Sarkin Yamma of Badagry West LCDA, Alhaji Bashir Mohammed Talba, in Lagos, where a total of 226kg of cannabis were seized from his two wives and son.

He noted that although Alhaji Talba is currently at large, a search of his house in Ashipa area of ​​Seme Badagry resulted in the recovery of 93 pressed blocks of Cannabis sativa weighing 57.6kg belonging to his first wife, Asma'u Bashiru, 35, and his son, Sadat Bashiru, 22. Another search of his house in Aketegbo area of ​​Seme Badagry resulted in the recovery of 302 pressed blocks of Cannabis weighing 168.6kg belonging to his second wife, Hauwa Bashir, 42.

“No less than 720 blocks of Arizona, a 390kg cannabis strain, was seized on Monday, September 16, in a Mitsubishi van marked MUS 720 XH in the Ojo area of ​​Lagos,” he added.

At Mallam Aminu International Airport in Kano, Babafemi said NDLEA agents arrested 38-year-old drug courier Okafor Ifeanyi Anthony on September 15 as he attempted to board a Qatar Airlines flight to Iran via Doha with 76 packets of cocaine in his stomach.

“After three days of observation, Okafor excreted the 76 cocaine tablets he ingested, weighing 1.267kg. In Kogi State, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway on Tuesday, September 17, seized 700,000 Exol-5 tablets from Lagos destined for distribution in Kano and Kaduna. A suspect, 23-year-old Udemefuna Chibuike, was arrested by officers along the Mokwa-Jebba road in Niger State on Friday, September 20. He was in possession of 49,000 tablets of Tramadol, 20,000 tablets of Diazepam, 100 vials of Tramadol injections and 50 bottles of cough syrup containing Codeine,” Babafemi added.

The statement continued: “On Wednesday, September 18, a total of 451 blocks of cannabis weighing 213kg were intercepted along Azikiwe Road, Port Harcourt, Rivers State by NDLEA officers who arrested the suspect, 33-year-old Ogochukwu Paul, as he was taking the shipment to a notorious drug haven in Borikiri.

“Meanwhile, investigators in Plateau State on Friday, September 20, arrested wanted suspect Jonathan Ali Abuttur, 46, along Agingi-Rukuba Road, Bassa LGA, in possession of 808kg of Cannabis sativa concealed in 68 bags of sugar and fertilizer. Their counterparts in Kwara also nabbed Shaibu Musa with 28kg of the same psychoactive substance.”