LAGOS, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The Nigeria Customs Service on Thursday announced the arrest of a national of Niger with smuggled drugs worth about 30 million naira (about 84,500 U.S. dollars).
The suspect, Sahabi Adamu, was apprehended with three bags filled with tramadol tablets, a prescription pain relief drug, according to the Comptroller of Nigeria Customs Service Sarkin Kebbi.
Addressing journalists on Thursday in Kaduna, northern Nigeria, Adamu put the street value of the smuggled drugs at 30 million naira.
He said the three bags contained 1,146 packets of tramadol tablets. The suspect was reported to have confessed the crime.
Health experts had described the escalation of drug abuse in Nigeria as "worrisome," saying even some bizarre substances are now being abused. Tramadol is a painkiller which is prone to causing drug addiction.
In November 2018, Nigerian authorities seized about half a billion tablets of tramadol, in two high-profile raids at Apapa Port, the country's biggest port.
