The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced that former beauty queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye has turned herself in at its Lagos command.
Aderinoye, who held the title of Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture in 2015/2016, was accused of evading authorities after being declared wanted eight months ago.
According to a statement released on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, Aderinoye was declared wanted after she fled her apartment in Lekki during an NDLEA raid on January 24, 2024. The agency recovered 606 grams of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, an electronic weighing scale, large quantities of drug packaging materials, a black RAV 4 SUV with the license plate Lagos KSF 872 GQ, and her picture frame, among other items from her home.
Babafemi stated, “Wanted ex-beauty queen, Ms. Aderinoye, also known as Ms. Queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye, has surrendered to the Lagos Command of the agency after about eight months in hiding. She was declared wanted in January after escaping from her Lekki residence when NDLEA operatives executed a raid due to credible intelligence about her involvement in illegal drug activities.”
Aderinoye, the founder of the Queen Christmas Foundation, claimed to have been hiding in Akure, Ondo State, since her escape but ultimately surrendered to the agency on Wednesday, August 28.
Babafemi further reported that NDLEA operatives intercepted a 31,124,600 pills of tramadol (225mg) and numerous bottles of codeine-based syrup, with a combined street value exceeding N17,932,200,000. The seizures occurred at the Port Harcourt Port Complex and Tincan Seaport in Lagos, following intelligence on shipments originating from India.
The breakdown reveals that 350,000 bottles of codeine syrup were recovered from two containers at Tincan Port in Lagos on August 29 and 30, 2024, with each container holding 175,000 bottles.
At the Port Harcourt Port Complex, operatives also intercepted 447 cartons of tramadol (225mg) containing 29,840,000 pills, along with 380,000 bottles of codeine syrup from three containers on August 29. These tramadol shipments were labeled under various brand names including Royal Tapetadol, Carisoprodol 225mg, and Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride 225mg.
The following day, another set of three containers flagged by the NDLEA were examined, resulting in the recovery of 3,030 cartons of codeine syrup containing 554,600 bottles. This brings the total number of codeine bottles seized at Onne, Rivers, and Tincan in Lagos to 1,284,600, with an estimated street value of N8,992,200,000. The combined seizure of tramadol pills stands at 29,840,000, valued at N8,940,000,000.
Additionally, NDLEA operatives arrested a suspect, Eze Emekan Don, at Port Harcourt International Airport on August 27 while he attempted to board a flight to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, carrying 1,490 tramadol pills concealed among various cosmetic packages in his luggage.
In Lagos, at least 1,122 kilograms of cannabis were seized from a suspect named Mustapha Ibrahim on August 26 along Orchid Road, Ajah. Authorities also recovered 816 kg of the same substance from another suspect at large at the same location.
In Niger State, NDLEA operatives arrested a suspect named Friday Gabriel on August 26, who was transporting 1,900 capsules of tramadol, 300 bottles of codeine syrup, and 600 packets of exol-5 tablets along the Minna-Suleja road.
Similarly, in Bauchi State, two suspects, Garba Muhammed (35) and Usman Yakubu Shehu (31), were apprehended on August 31 while transporting 308 blocks of cannabis weighing 246.4 kg, concealed in a hidden compartment of a bus marked from Edo State, URM 38 ZY.
