Crime
NDLEA Makes Major Drug Busts and Arrests Across Nigeria
By Our Correspondent
In a series of successful operations, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made significant arrests and seizures of illicit drugs across various regions of Nigeria over the past week.
A statement by the NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi on Sunday in Abuja said that the suspect, Obiorah Chigozie had been on the wanted list of the agency for a while now.
According to the statement, he was apprehended after a consignment of 1,500 kilograms of skunk, concealed in flour and destined for London, was intercepted at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos on September 15.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) intercepted a container truck loaded with 1,188 kilograms of skunk hidden under cartons of toothpaste. The truck, traveling from Lagos to Kano, was apprehended in the Gwagwalada area of the FCT.
The agency’s officers in Bayelsa discovered 432 kilograms of the same illicit substance inside an abandoned J5 bus along Saipem road in Yenagoa.
In Kano, a septuagenarian, Ado Unguwa, aged 70, was arrested with 143.2 kilograms of skunk in Dindere village, Tofa Local Government Area (LGA).
Operatives in Enugu recovered 110.6 kilograms of the same substance from a locked-up shop at Aria new market.
In Lagos, NDLEA officers stormed the notorious Idi-Oro drug enclave in Mushin, seizing 212.5 kilograms of cannabis sativa, belonging to a wanted drug lord.
The agency also reported a drug seizure in Kwara, where 104 kilograms of skunk were recovered from a Toyota Camry car in the Offa area of the state.
In a cross-border operation, a Chadian national, Mohammed Ibrahim, aged 25, was apprehended at Mafa checkpoint in Borno with 11.8 kilograms of the same illicit substance.
Additional operations included the transfer of four suspects in Plateau state, with the recovery of 1,978 kilograms of cannabis from them. In Cross River state, operatives seized 40,000 ampules of pentazocine injection, leading to the arrest of two suspects, Fajulugbe Adeshola and Nnaorji Agwe, in Calabar.
Lastly, NDLEA officers arrested Ifeanyi Odoh, aged 25, in Kogi state, with 59,867 pills of opioids, including Tramadol, and 4.03 kilograms of cannabis sativa in the Idah area.
Buba Marwa, the NDLEA chairman, commended the officers and men from various commands across Nigeria for their outstanding efforts in drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction, emphasizing the importance of inter-agency collaboration in combating the illicit drug trade.