NDLEA intercepts 1.63 million tramadol pills in cross-border operation

Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol, a significant bust targeting a transnational drug trafficking syndicate. The powerful opioid medication was found concealed within specially fabricated compartments in two long trailers.

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Ongoing efforts to dismantle a transnational drug trafficking syndicate smuggling tramadol from Togo, through the Benin Republic, into Nigeria have yielded another success with the interception of two long trailers used to move 1,630,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in fabricated compartments of the trucks across multiple borders into Lagos.

The operation, described as intelligence-led, targeted smugglers operating along the crucial Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor. This latest seizure follows closely on the heels of a previous interception just a week prior, where NDLEA operatives recovered 558,900 tramadol pills hidden in a truck entering Nigeria via the same route.

According to NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, one of the intercepted trailers was heading to Kano. Operatives recovered 853,000 pills of 250mg tramadol from a hidden compartment beneath the trailer's cargo floor. The 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru, was arrested at the scene along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on July 2.

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The intelligence-led interdiction operation came barely a week after the NDLEA operatives recovered 558,900 pills of the same psychoactive substance from the false-bottom compartment of a truck that came into Lagos through the Togo-Benin Republic route.

On July 4, a second trailer was intercepted on the same expressway. Officers found 777,000 pills of tramadol (250mg) in another concealed compartment. The driver, also 22 years old, identified as Muhammed Nuhu, was apprehended. Investigations indicate that the three separate consignments, seized on June 21, July 2, and July 4, are linked to the same drug trafficking network.

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One of the two trucks already heading to Kano was tracked and located on July 2, 2026, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where the NDLEA officers recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the trailer and arrested the 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru.