By Ibrahim Nasidi Saal
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has said that the ongoing investigation of a billionaire drug baron, Chief Afam Mallinson Ukatu, has led to discovering how the suspect imported into Nigeria in October 2019 two containers containing 1,284 cartons of Tramadol with a market value of over N22billion.
The Agency stated this in a statement on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, to counter insinuations by some hirelings that NDLEA has no evidence to pin a crime on Ukatu, who is the Chairman/CEO of Mallinson Group of companies.
After months of surveillance, Ukatu was eventually arrested on board a flight to Abuja at the MM2 terminal of the Lagos airport, Ikeja, on Wednesday, April 13.
Investigations reveal that he is a major importer of large consignments of different brands and high dosages of Tramadol Hydrochloride, ranging from 120mg, 200mg, 225mg and 250mg, all of which are illicit. In addition, Ukatu owns pharmaceutical and plastic manufacturing companies, which he used as a cover to import illegal drugs into Nigeria.
The Agency said that in investigating the N3billion Tramadol saga between Ukatu and the Abba Kyaris IRT team, its operatives unearthed more evidence establishing how Ukatu has been importing large quantities of Tramadol far above the approved threshold allowed into the country.
In one instance, Ukatu, through his Mallinson Group of companies, imported into the country two-container loads of five different brands of Tramadol in October 2019 through the Apapa ports in Lagos.
All the evidence so far gathered shows that the imported Tramadol brands were far above the threshold permitted into Nigeria.
