Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a 37-year-old businessman, Ani Romans, and recovered large quantities of tramadol concealed inside mannequins he was transporting for his clothing business.
Romans was intercepted by NDLEA officers on patrol along the Oron–Ibaka Road in the Oron Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State on Friday, January 9, while travelling with full-body mannequins allegedly meant for onward movement to Cameroon.
A statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said a search of the items revealed that the mannequins had been stuffed with tramadol pills weighing a total of 5.3 kilograms.
“In Akwa Ibom state, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Oron-Ibaka road in Oron LGA on Friday, 9th January, intercepted a 37-year-old businessman, Ani Onyebuchi Romans, while travelling with full-body mannequins for his clothing business in Cameroon. A search of the mannequins revealed that they were stuffed with pills of tramadol weighing 5.3 kilograms.
“The suspect claims he resides in Cameroon and was reportedly returning to his base after the Christmas and New Year holidays when he was apprehended. It was revealed that he bought the drugs in Onitsha, Anambra State, and was trafficking them to Cameroun to sell, using two mannequins to conceal the opioids,” the statement partly read.
The arrest was part of a series of interdiction operations carried out by NDLEA across several states in the past week.
He also said an 80-year-old ex-convict, Jeremiah Isaiah Nkanta, was rearrested on Saturday, January 10, in Mmanta-Abak village, Abak Local Government Area, with 5.7 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis.
Babafemi noted that Nkanta had previously been convicted and sentenced to two years in prison in 2022 for drug trafficking.
“Barely three years after he was arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for dealing in illicit drugs, 80-year-old Grandpa Jeremiah Nkanta has again been nabbed by operatives of the NDLEA for returning to the criminal trade.
“Notorious for illicit drug business, Nkanta was first arrested by NDLEA on 14th December 2022, prosecuted and sentenced to two years in jail by a Federal High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.
“Not ready to let go of the old habit, Nkanta returned to the illicit drug trade, and following credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, 10th January 2025, tracked the octogenarian ex-convict to his Mmanta-Abak village, Abak local government area of Akwa Ibom state, where he was arrested with 5.7 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, in his residence.”
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