The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has revealed that Afam Mallinson Ukatu, a suspected billionaire drug baron who was arrested in April, imported N22 billion worth of Tramadol into Nigeria in October 2019.

In its latest statement released by the agency on Tuesday, NDLEA said Ukatu imported two containers containing 1,284 cartons of the banned substance into the country during the period.

“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, two containers containing 1,284 cartons of Tramadol with market value of over N22 billion,” the statement reads in part.

Ukatu, who received the Extraordinary Achievement Award at Silverbird’s 2018 Man of the Year ceremony, has over the years been hailed as one of the most versatile entrepreneurs in the country.

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The agency also revealed that Ukatu had been importing high quantities of Tramadol Hydrochloride in the past, while using the pharmaceutical and plastic manufacturing companies he owned as frontiers for his illegal business.

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“In one instance, Ukatu through his Mallinson Group of companies imported into the country two-container loads of five different brands of Tramadol in October 2019 through the Apapa ports in Lagos. All the evidence so far gathered show that the imported Tramadol brands were far above the threshold permitted to be imported into Nigeria,” the statement read.

Ukatu is also believed to be the baron behind the three-billion-naira Tramadol deal involving Abba Kyari, the embattled former head of the IGP’s Intelligence Response Team (IRT).