During a stop-and-search operation along the Abuja-Lokoja route, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, agents seized $20 million in counterfeit currency.
The fake cash, according to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, was discovered in a bus going from Lagos to Abuja. Onyebuchi Nlededin, a 53-year-old bus driver, was detained.
In addition, the agency confiscated illegal substances from a warehouse in Lagos State’s International Trade Fair Complex, Alaba, Ojo neighbourhood, valued at billions of naira.
Tramadol tablets totaling 1.4 million, codeine pills totaling 3.2 million, and roughly 3000 containers of codeine syrup were among the items seized. The total street value of the illegal substances is N4.82 billion.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA has said the visit of music star Afeez Adeshina Fashola, popularly known as Naira Marley, to the agency was not for an ambassadorial role.
Marley had earlier in the week spoken at the agency’s Abuja headquarters, where he urged Nigerians to abstain from drug use. Some years ago, an Abuja-based notorious drug lord was arrested on the Abuja-Lokoja Highway
Following the news, social media erupted with claims that the singer had secured an ambassadorial arrangement with the organisation during the visit.