The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted cocaine consignments concealed in a local mortar and the false bottom of a backpack, both packaged for shipment to China and Italy through a logistics company in Lagos.

In a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the anti-narcotics agency said the seizures were made by operatives of its Directorate of Operations and General Investigations (DOGI) during an operation on Thursday, July 30.

According to the NDLEA, officers recovered 250 grams of cocaine factory-fitted into the base of a local mortar packed inside a carton for export to China. In a separate interception, 500 grams of cocaine were discovered hidden in the false bottom of a backpack destined for Italy.

The Lagos seizures were part of a series of nationwide operations that also led to major drug recoveries and arrests across several states.

In Rivers State, operatives arrested a 38-year-old suspected drug dealer, Ugo Gift Okonkwo, at Eagle Island in Port Harcourt following credible intelligence. He was reportedly found in possession of q,uantities of cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, swinol, tramadol and codeine syrup during his arrest on July 26.

In Anambra State, NDLEA officers conducting a stop-and-search operation at the DMGS Roundabout in Onitsha intercepted a truck with registration number XK 131 BDG loaded with 26,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 3,960 kilograms. The truck driver, Chinedu Nwanze, 40, was arrested.

Similarly, operatives in Delta State recovered 331.84 kilograms of skunk from a Toyota Sienna bus with registration number KUJ 26 DV along the Kwale/Ughelli Expressway.

In Nasarawa State, a 64-year-old suspect, Joseph Nwaeke, was arrested in the Asso Angwan Muazu area of Karu with 68 kilograms of skunk and 29 grams of methamphetamine.

The agency also recorded a seizure in Zamfara State, where operatives on patrol along the Zaria-Gusau highway intercepted Sani Umar, 27, with 7,400 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, suspected to be intended for supply to criminal elements.

Reacting to the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations as well as the Rivers, Anambra, Delta, Nasarawa and Zamfara commands for the successful raids.

Marwa urged operatives across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control through continued enforcement and preventive measures.