National Drug Law Enforcement Agency operatives attached to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Special Area Command, on Wednesday, intercepted 1.6 kilograms of controlled drugs, suspected to be Tramadol and Flunitrazepam, which were destined for Istanbul, Turkey.
This development occurred days after international flights resumed.
The drugs were seized from one Michael Ejionye Chukwuka during the outward clearance of passengers boarding the Turkish Airline flight to Istanbul, Turkey.
NDLEA spokesperson, Jonah Achema, said, “The usual trend is the illegal importation of Tramadol from Pakistan and India into the country and not the exportation of the illicit Tramadol.”
The drugs seized include 1.25kilos of tramadol and 350 grammes of flunitrazepam, a hypnotic drug also known as Rohypnol.
NDLEA said 36-year-old Chukwuka, who is an indigene of Imo State, claimed to be ignorant of the content of the bags, which he said were handed over to him at the Airport entrance in Abuja to deliver to a Nigerian woman dealing in food stuff in Istanbul.
Achema quoted the suspect as saying, “I don’t know the woman but Paul, her husband in Warri, gave the consignment to one man to bring to me at the airport.”
The NDLEA spokesman said that the suspected drug trafficker, who works in a Cargo Office in Istanbul, had lived there together with Paul for many years, adding that he travelled to Nigeria in March and got trapped by the Coronavirus pandemic during which period, he equally became cash-strapped and had to reach out to friends to enable him to validate his return-ticket.
Commander, NDLEA Nnamdi Azkiwe International Airport, Kabir Sani Tsakuwa, said the arrest and seizure coming less than a week after the resumption of international flight at Abuja International Airport was a clear indication of the desperation of drug traffickers.
“But we are equally determined. Most importantly, we need to be extra-vigilant because smuggling Tramadol to Turkey is strange, suggesting that there is an emerging Tramadol market in some of these countries,” Tsakuwa noted.