Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested Eniola Sodade, an ex-convict, for passport racketeering at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi disclosed in a statement on Sunday that Sodade was previously convicted for drug trafficking in June 2024 by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
He was sentenced to four years in prison but was released after paying a fine of ₦750,000.
During a December 2024 operation, NDLEA officers at the Lagos airport’s export shed intercepted 52 passports from various countries concealed in shoe soles and food items in shipments bound for Canada, Russia, and other destinations.
Further investigations led to the arrest of Sodade and three accomplices: Saheed Awwal, Salaudeen Afeez, and Adebayo Bamigbade. The suspects and the recovered items were handed over to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) on December 30, 2024, for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Major Drug Seizures in Rivers, Kano, and Kwara
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Rivers State intercepted 316,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup during a joint examination with Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other security agencies on December 31, 2024.
In Kano, operatives raided the Mafarki-Dan Dishe area of Dala Local Government on December 31, recovering 149,090 pills of tramadol and exol-5 from a local dealer, 45-year-old Ismail Muhammad.
Meanwhile, in Kwara State, NDLEA officers arrested two young individuals, 24-year-old Khadijat Abdulraheem, a recent graduate, and Ayomide Morakinyo, a 20-year-old University of Ilorin student, on December 29, 2024. The duo was accused of producing and selling drug-laced cupcakes to students in the Tanke-University Road area of Ilorin. During a search of their apartment, officers recovered 42 drug-laced cupcakes.
The NDLEA has reiterated its commitment to combating drug trafficking and related crimes across the country, promising to intensify efforts to dismantle criminal networks.
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