NDLEA Nabs Insurgents’ Drugs Supplier, Intercepts 7.6 Tons Of Illicit Substances In Borno, Nasarawa

No fewer than 24 suspected drug traffickers and dealers, including a 42-year-old man carrying thousands of concealed opioid pills to an insurgent enclave in the Banki area of Borno State, a six-month-pregnant lady, a mother of three children, and three other women, have been arrested in major interdiction operations by NDLEA operatives, resulting in the seizure of over 7,609 kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs in eight states.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by the anti-narcotics agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the majority of the seizures were made in Nasarawa State, where NDLEA operatives acting on credible intelligence intercepted a truck marked Lagos JJJ 64 YC transporting 367 jumbo bags of cannabis sativa weighing 4,037 kilogrammes from Akure, Ondo State to be delivered at Shabu area of Lafia, the state capital. Shuaibu Yahaya Liman, 35, Monday Audu, 33, and Linus Samuel, 42, were arrested in connection with the seizure.

According to Babafemi, on Monday, operatives in Abuja, FCT arrested Jibrin Shuaibu, 23, and Prosper Innih, 17, with 169 bags and 80 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 1,961.5 kilogrammes concealed in a truck bearing the registration number Ogun WDE 557 XC. He added that the truck was stopped and searched along the Abaji-Abuja highway on their way from Uzeba to Dei-Dei, FCT.

According to the spokesman, in another operation conducted by NDLEA operatives in Abuja last Tuesday, a suspect, Abdulhameed Dauda, 27, was arrested with 89 kilogrammes of the same psychoactive substance loaded into his truck in Owo, Ondo State, to be delivered to Gwagwalada in the FCT. On the same day, operatives apprehended another driver, Hassan Ade, 30, who was transporting 696.5 kilogrammes of the same substance from Idoani, Ondo State, to Gwagwalada and Dei-Dei in the FCT. He revealed that a follow-up operation resulted in the arrest of Mrs. Joy Chukwuka, 42, a mother of three children who was linked to the consignment.

In Ondo State, he stated that in addition to seizing 633.5 kilogrammes of cannabis at Eleyere, Ogbese in Akure North local government area, NDLEA agents discovered 59 jumbo bags of the same substance loaded in a truck marked GAD 287 XA bound for the country’s north. He observed that detergents were sprayed on the cannabis bags, purportedly to mask the odour of the psychoactive weed, while 192 packs of table water were loaded on top to conceal the illegal shipment.

Babafemi stated that 187 kilogrammes of the same substance were seized by operatives on Sapele Road in Benin, Edo State, while in Kano, NDLEA officers arrested 58-year-old Bashir Attahir in the Bachirawa area of the state on Monday with 216,000 tramadol 250 mg pills. Another suspect, Ejike Moses Nmenme, 47, was apprehended the next day with 25,190 tramadol capsules and various quantities of Rohypnol and codeine syrup along Emir Road in the Sabon Gari area of the city, while Yusuf Abdullahi Musa, 35, and Yusuf Musa, 28, were apprehended last Thursday with 1,000 ampoules of tramadol injection at Gadar Tamburawa.

Ahmad Mohammed, a 42-year-old suspected supplier of illicit drugs to insurgents in Banki, Nigeria’s border town with Cameroon, was apprehended by NDLEA operatives last Friday at the Bama checkpoint in Borno state. While on his way to deliver the opioid consignment in the border town, his luggage was searched, and 20,000 tramadol capsules were found.

Babafemi also stated that a six-month pregnant woman, Amarachi Akaolisa, 25, and another woman, Ifeoma Iheanyi, 21, were among six suspects arrested for dealing in illicit substances in Oraifite and Umuni-Evili, Aguleri, Anambra state. Others apprehended include Okwuchukwu Chukwuka, Onyedika Ngwu, Ekene Hyginus, and Nzomiwu Ikechukwu. Over six kilogrammes of cannabis, tramadol, diazepam, and codeine syrup were recovered in raids conducted by NDLEA operatives in various parts of the state between last Tuesday and Thursday.

He stated in Lagos that two ladies, Boluwatife Adebayo and Omolade Adebayo, were among the suspects apprehended during raids in various parts of the state last Saturday. While Ogah Adole and Boluwatife Adebayo were arrested in Agidingbi, Ikeja, in connection with 220 grammes of cannabis, 10.6 litres of codeine syrup, and other psychotropic substances,

According to him, Omolade Adebayo was apprehended in Ijesha with various amounts of cannabis, codeine syrup, Rohypnol, and molly.

Babafemi also stated that Commands across the country balanced drug supply reduction operations with War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaigns in schools, markets, worship centres, and communities.

Meanwhile, while congratulating the agency’s Nasarawa, FCT, Ondo, Kano, Borno, Edo, Anambra, and Lagos Commands on their recent accomplishments, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) urged them and their compatriots across the country to always strive to outperform previous feats in drug supply and demand reduction efforts.