NDLEA arrests trailer load of cough syrups containing codeine
News & Trends •
the trailer was arrested by the ndlea operatives at the companys warehouse located in dutsen-reme area1 by zubairu idris1 the ndlea state commandant hajiya maryam gambo sani disclosed this during a press briefing to newsmen on tuesday in katsina1 she said that six persons were arrested in connection with the drug cargo. according to her those arrested were the driver of the vehicle his assistant and two conductors1 sani said other people arrested were the manager of sunglow equity nig ltd who is suspected to be owner of the drugs and the salesman of the company1 state governments north of nigeria are generally suspicious of cough syrups containing codeine as people abuse the codeine content a kind of opiate like cocaine or heroin. users get high on it leading to many cases of drug addiction1 according to reports many users actually buy it when they cannot afford more expensive drugs such as heroin diamorphine or other opiateopioid drugs1 as an opiate codeine is also used to treat pain and diarrhea. internationally codeine is not a banned drug1 the katsina state government is yet to make a law banning the use of the drug and it is unclear under which law the ndlea will prosecute the suspects1 the national drugs law enforcement agency ndlea has arrested a trailer loaded with 24000 bottles of cough syrups containing codeine in funtua local government area of katsina state1 sani said that the trailer came from onitsha1 she said that the suspects would be charged to court for prosecution1 sani also said that 12 students of tertiary institutions in the state were arrested for drugs related offences1 the commandant said that the items seized from the students included 159 bottles of cough syrups with codeine 160.6 grams of cannabis sativa and 50.7 grams of rohypnol rochee1 she also said that a total of 186 persons were apprehended between january and march 2018 for drugs related offences in the state1 sani said that 57.8 kilograms of assorted hard drugs and 25254 bottles of cough syrups with codeine were seized from the suspects1 she added that 8.4489 kilograms of psychotropic substances were seized from the suspects during the period under review1 sani urged the public to continue to assist the command in its efforts of fight against drug abuse and trafficking1