Billionaire Ugochukwu Nsofor Chukwukadibia is the owner of the 13.4 million Tramadol pills warehoused in a mansion at Victoria Garden City, in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.
Nigeria’s anti-narcotic agency, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, stated this Monday following a drug bust in the highbrow Lagos Island estate.
The agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the seized drugs have a market value of N8.86b.
He said credible intelligence led operatives of the agency to storm the Plot A45 Road 2 home of the billionaire drug kingpin on Friday, Sept. 30, adding that a search of the expansive mansion led to the discovery of 443 cartons of Tramadol Hydrochloride 225mg containing 13, 451, 466 pills of the drug even though some cartons were already burnt in a fire incident in the house on the same day.
Investigations show Chukwukadibia owns about six mansions on Lagos Island. While he uses one as a warehouse for drug consignments, he resides in the one at Plot Z-130 Road 67 in Victoria Garden City. There’s also one he uses as his office.
Among items recovered from two of his houses are five exotic vehicles out of which two SUVs, including a bulletproof one, have been reportedly moved to the anti-drug agency’s facility.
NDLEA boss, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended the officers involved in the operation for their diligence and also thanked Nigerians for their support for the agency in its fight against the menace of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking in the country.
He reassured Nigerians and other stakeholders of his agency’s preparedness to work with them on the task of saving the country from drug scourge.
The arrest of 52-year-old Ugochukwu Chukwukadibia, a native of Ihiala in Anambra State who’s also the chairman of Autonation Motors Ltd., comes barely two months after NDLEA uncovered a methamphetamine clandestine laboratory in the residence of another drug kingpin – Chris Emeka Nzewi – in the same estate.
Nzewi was arrested Saturday, July 30, along with Sunday Ukah – a chemist who cooked the illicit drug for him.
During his arrest, at least 258.74 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and various precursor chemicals used for the production of the toxic drug were recovered from his home.
