National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has said that ongoing investigation of a billionaire drug baron, Chief Afam Mallinson Ukatu, has led to the discovery of how the suspect imported into Nigeria in a single month, October 2019, 2 containers containing 1,284 cartons of Tramadol with market value of over ₦22 billion.
The Agency stated this in a statement to counter insinuations by some hirelings that NDLEA had 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.
According to the statement, investigations reveal he has been 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.
The billionaire owns pharmaceutical and plastic manufacturing companies, which NDLEA says he used as a cover to import illicit drugs into Nigeria.
The Agency said in the course of investigating the ₦3 billion Tramadol saga between Ukatu and the Abba Kyari’s IRT team, its operatives have unearthed more evidences establishing how Ukatu has been importing large quantities of Tramadol far above the approved threshold allowed into the country.
In one instance, the document reveals that Ukatu through his Mallinson Group of companies imported into the country 2 conatiner loads of 5 different brands of Tramadol in October 2019 through the Apapa ports in Lagos showing that the imported Tramadol brands were far above the threshold permitted to be imported into Nigeria.
The NDLEA added that the suspect would be appearing in court soon.
RN