Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested two members of a syndicate involved in the illicit importation and trafficking of the lethal synthetic opioid, Fentanyl, in the Ogbogwu market, Onitsha Head Bridge, Anambra State.
The anti-narcotics agency revealed that the drug, Fentanyl, is 100 times stronger than Tramadol and is capable of causing mass casualty among youths being targeted by the cartels.
The spokesperson for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, made the development known on Tuesday in a statement many available to journalists.
“The arrest of two members of the syndicate – Odoh Oguejiofor and Chigozie Uzoma at Ogbogwu market, Onitsha Head Bridge, Onitsha South Local Government Area, Anambra State, in well-coordinated and clinical operations, is coming on the heels of an alert issued by the anti-narcotics agency on Tuesday, November 22, 2022,” Babafemi said.
He said the Chairman of the NDLEA, Maj.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), ordered a deployment of operatives to pick members of the syndicate one after the other, after being convinced that the agency had gathered sufficient evidence to nail the suspects.
He added, “Odoh Oguejiofor was the first to be arrested while on a business mission with packets of 100 micrograms of Fentanyl, while the arrest of Uzoma who is a major dealer in other illicitly manufactured pharmaceutical opioids including Fentanyl, followed.
“While packs of liquid Fentanyl were recovered from Oguejiofor, different quantities of banned and controlled drugs including Fentanyl were seized from Uzoma.”
