The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered a large consignment of illegal drugs worth over N6.5 billion at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State, and the Apapa Seaport in Lagos.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEAโs Director of Media & Advocacy detailed in a statement released on Sunday that the seizures comprised more than six million opioid tablets and 332,000 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup.
Speaking further, he noted that the operation was the result of thorough intelligence gathering and the identification of containers believed to be used by drug cartels to smuggle narcotics into the country.
The statement detailed that between May 19 and 22, 2025, a joint inspection by NDLEA officials and other security agencies at the Port Harcourt port led to the discovery of six million pills identified as tamol, tapentadol, and carisoprodol (225mg each), as well as 162,000 bottles of codeine syrup. An additional 170,000 bottles of codeine were found at the Apapa Port.
Excerpt:
“No fewer than six million pills of opioids namely: tamol 225mg, tapentadol 225mg and carisoprodol 225mg as well as 332,000 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup with a combined street value of Six Billion Five Hundred and Twenty-Four Million Naira (N6,524,000,000.00) have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers and the Apapa seaport, Lagos.
“The seizures at the Apapa and Onne ports followed intelligence and tracking of new trafficking routes to ship illicit substances into Nigeria by drug cartels, which necessitated the watch-listing of the containers for 100 percent examination.
“The consignments at the Port Harcourt ports: six million pills of opioids and 162,000 bottles of codeine syrup were uncovered in two containers on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th May 2025 during a joint examination of the shipments by NDLEA officers with men of the Nigeria Customs and other security agencies.
โAt the Apapa port in Lagos, a total of 170,000 bottles of codeine syrup were discovered in a watch-listed container by NDLEA operatives during a similar joint examination exercise on Thursday 22nd May,” Babafemi detailed.
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