Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a suspected drug trafficker, Egwu Phillip Inya, a building engineer, while attempting to receive illicit drugs concealed in imported pressure machines.
This was announced in a statement signed by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, and shared on the agency’s website on Sunday.
According to the statement, the arrest took place on Monday, December 2, 2024, at Okeyson Motor Park in Enugu. Inya, 42, was detained as he arrived to collect three pressure machines holding 7.4 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic variety of cannabis.
The statement said, “Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, arrested a suspected drug trafficker, Egwu Phillip Inya, who claims to be a building engineer, while attempting to take delivery of illicit consignments concealed in pressure machines imported from South Africa.
“The 42-year-old was arrested on Monday, December 2, 2024, at Okeyson Motor Park, Enugu, when he showed up to collect three units of pressure machines, inside which were hidden parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 7.4 kilograms.”
On November 29, 2024, the unlawful consignments arrived at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Based on intelligence, the NDLEA’s MMIA Strategic Command traced the consignment from customs clearance to a logistics warehouse outside the airport.
The scheduled pickup destination was suddenly relocated to Enugu, where Inya was apprehended during a subsequent operation.
The statement added, “The consignments arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos, import shed on November 29, 2024. Following credible intelligence, officers of the MMIA Strategic Command of the Agency monitored the shipment through the clearing process to a logistics company’s warehouse outside the airport, where it was to be collected by the consignee.
“However, the importer changed the point of collection to Enugu at the last minute. As a result, NDLEA operatives, in a follow-up operation in Enugu, arrested Inya when he showed up to collect the consignments.”
In a separate operation on December 6, NDLEA operatives in Adamawa State confiscated 511,000 tramadol pills from a Siena car near Hildi, Askira Uba.
The car’s occupants fled after realising they were being pursued by NDLEA agents.
The statement said, “No fewer than 511,000 pills of tramadol were recovered from a Siena vehicle at Hildi, Askira Uba, in Adamawa State by NDLEA operatives on patrol along the road in the early hours of Friday, December 6.
“The occupants of the vehicle made a detour upon sighting the NDLEA team and, after a distance, abandoned the vehicle with the consignments when they realised the operatives were on their trail.”
