Nigeria’s anti-drug agency has intercepted more than two billion tramadol pills over the past 18 months, its head has revealed.
Brig. Gen Buba Marwa (retd), chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), announced the figures during an inspection tour of the Lekki Free Trade Zone and Lekki Deep Sea Port in Lagos.
Gen. Marwa said the massive seizures were made possible through coordinated operations and intelligence sharing with international partners, particularly authorities in India and Pakistan.
Warning traffickers against using the nation’s ports as transit points for illicit substances, he emphasized that surveillance capabilities have been significantly upgraded in partnership with customs and health regulators.
“Within the last 18 months, we have seized more than two billion pills of tramadol through coordinated operations,” Gen. Marwa said, urging port operators and the public to support anti-trafficking efforts. “Nigeria is facing a very serious drug challenge… It cannot be the responsibility of the NDLEA alone. It requires total societal collaboration.”
He also cited a recent operational success in Ogun State, where officers dismantled a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory capable of producing an estimated $360m (£278m) worth of synthetic drugs.
Port officials at the Lekki Free Zone and Lekki Deep Sea Port pledged continued cooperation with security agencies, reaffirming a zero-tolerance policy towards drug trafficking through the maritime hub.
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