The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a billionaire drug baron behind the N3billion Tramadol deal involving the embattled suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari-led Intelligence Response Team, Chief Afam Mallinson Emmanuel Ukatu.
The anti-narcotic agency said Ukatu arrest followed months of surveillance and evasion of arrest.
Ukatu, who is Chairman of Mallinson Group of Companies, was arrested onboard a flight to Abuja at the MM2 terminal of the Lagos airport, Ikeja on Wednesday April 13.
The statement was titled, ‘NDLEA arrests drug baron behind N3billion Tramadol linked to Abba Kyaris team’.
Babafemi said investigations revealed that the suspect is a major importer of large consignments of different brands and high dosages of Tramadol Hydrochloride.
According to him, the Tramadol ranging from 120mg, 200mg, 225mg and 250mg are illicit. He added that Ukatu owns pharmaceutical and plastic manufacturing companies, which he used as a cover to import illicit drugs into Nigeria.
“After the arrest of Ukatu’s staff: Pius Enidom and Sunday Ibekwete, Kyari’s men were then led by the suspects to Mallinson’s warehouse at Ojota in Lagos where 197 additional Cartons of Tramadol 225mg were seized by the IRT Team. The monetary value of the 202 cartons of Tramadol seized from Mallinson in one day was over N3billion.
“Three weeks after the seizure, the Kyari’s IRT team transferred only 12 Cartons of the Tramadol with one truck and a suspect to the Lagos Command of the NDLEA, leaving 190 cartons unaccounted for.
