NDLEA Operatives Seize Cocaine, Loud Consignments Hidden In Candles And Ladies’ Wear

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has foiled drug syndicates’ desperate attempts to smuggle Cocaine and Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis concealed in incense candles, game packs, dry hibiscus leaves, and ladies’ native wears, into and out of Nigeria via Murtala Muhammed International Airport and some courier firms in Lagos.

According to the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, a businessman, Abdulwahab Owolabi Alebiosu, was arrested last Thursday at his Horizon Court, Lekki, Lagos residence after a consignment of 40 parcels of Loud weighing 20.3 kilogrammes hidden in packs of chessboards, scrabbles, checkers, and poker set, brought in from Canada on a British Airways flight was intercepted at the SAHCO import shed of the Lagos airport during a joint examination of the cargo.

He stated that a search of his home yielded additional exhibits, including a weighing scale and a cannabis potency test kit, as well as four vaping machines from his business premises on Admiralty Way in Lekki. A Mikano black truck with the registration number FST 657 HP was also found at his house.

In the same vein, NDLEA agents at the MMIA’s NAHCO export shed intercepted two jumbo bags bound for Pakistan last Friday. The bags contained dried hibiscus leaves, dried bitter leaves, and other food items that were used to conceal four parcels of cocaine and 14 parcels of Loud, both weighing 1.36 kilogrammes, and further investigations led to the arrest of a businesswoman, Eze Ogechi, who claimed she was sending the illicit consignment to Pakistan on the orders of her brother, Eze Nnamdi, who lives in the South Asian country.

Last Thursday, NDLEA operatives stationed at the Lagos airport’s Terminal II, Departure Gate, apprehended a male Beninese passenger, Orobi Adoubi, who was carrying a bag containing some female native dresses. The suspect was travelling to Dubai via Accra, Ghana on an Air Peace flight and then to Dubai, UAE on an Emirates flight.

He said a thorough search of the bag revealed eight parcels of Loud weighing 2.1 kilogrammes hidden in the ladies’ native attire. The suspect claimed that he was given the consignment for a fee of N600,000 upon successful delivery in Dubai.

Babafemi stated that at least 4.5 kilogrammes of the same substance concealed inside the door panels and boot of an imported Toyota RAV 4 vehicle were recovered on Sunday, July 14th, from a container marked MSDU 5656394 from Canada during a 100% search of the container at Tincan port in Lagos.

He revealed that two suspects, Dada Kole and Alaba Oladewusi, had been arrested in connection with the seizure. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, July 16th, NDLEA operatives arrested Amadu Garba, a 48-year-old one-legged man, in his home in Yawuri town, Kebbi State, with six bags of cannabis weighing 67 kilogrammes.

Two suspects, Ademola Elusakin, 60, and Nuhu Friday Adamu, 34, were apprehended by NDLEA agents last Monday on the Kwali-Gwagwalada-Abuja motorway on their way from Lagos to Nasarawa state.

He said Elusakin claimed he obtained the consignment from Ghana via Lagos, with Keffi, Nasarawa state, as the final destination, where they were to supply illegal miners operating in the area.

Babafemi stated that at least 305 blocks of cannabis weighing 152.5 kilogrammes were recovered from a suspect, Sale Bukar, 39, who was apprehended at Geidam in Yobe state on Sunday, July 14th, while transporting the illegal consignment to Diffa in Niger Republic. While a suspect, Aham Regal Chinemeze, 43, was apprehended last Thursday with 60 kilogrammes of the same substance along the Owerri-Onitsha motorway in Imo state, Adamu Abdullahi, 24, was arrested last Wednesday with 40.5 kilogrammes along the Obajana-Kabba motorway in Kogi state. The consignment was recovered from him in a commercial bus travelling from Lagos to Kano.

In Plateau state, a raid on the storehouse of a notorious drug dealer, Choji Gyang (aka Pararam), who is currently at large, on Rukuba Road in Jos resulted in the recovery of 34 bags of cannabis weighing 312 kilogrammes, while his manager, Kelvin Onwutalu, 43, was arrested. Ifabiyi Johnson, 27, and Adeleke Musiliu, 54, were arrested last Friday during a raid in Osogbo, Osun state, with various strains of cannabis sativa weighing 30.4 kilogrammes.

Tukur Yahaya, 55; Idris Haruna, 28; and Tanimu Umar, 29, were apprehended with 90 blocks of cannabis weighing 116.8 kilogrammes last Friday at Roni junction, Kazaure local government area, while on their way to supply the illicit drugs to their customers in Kazaure, Yankwashi, and Katsina states.

Similarly, Ibrahim Abdulkadir, 29, and Suleman Mohammed, 22, were arrested with 336 bottles of codeine syrup in Amingo, Kaduna, while Auwalu Hashimu, 35, was apprehended with 45 kilogrammes of cannabis on the Zaria-Kano highway.

Acting on credible intelligence, a team of NDLEA operatives accompanied by soldiers raided a mechanic workshop opposite Benin garage in Akure, Ondo state, and seized a white Toyota Hilux Van with registration number EE 328 EKY loaded with 652 parcels of cannabis weighing 685 kilogrammes.

During a raid on Sunday, July 14th, 38 kilogrammes of the same psychoactive substance and a locally made AK-47 rifle were discovered at the home of a suspect, Christopher Ombugadu, 32, in Akwanga, Nasarawa state.

With the same zeal, agency commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities, among other places, over the past week.

Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, praised the officers and men of the agency’s MMIA, Tincan, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Kaduna, Jigawa, Osun, Yobe, Plateau, Kogi, Imo, and FCT commands for the arrests and seizures, noting that their operational successes, as well as those of their compatriots across the country, are greatly appreciated.

He urged them not to rest on their laurels, but rather to step up ongoing efforts to reduce drug supply and demand.