The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested 24 alleged drug traffickers and dealers in eight states during a series of large-scale interdiction operations, capturing roughly 7,609 kg of various illicit narcotics.
A 42-year-old man who was trying to give opioid pills to rebels in Banki, Borno State, a six-month pregnant woman, a mother with three children, and three other women engaged in drug trafficking were among those detained, according to the anti-narcotics agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi.
On Sunday, February 4, NDLEA agents in Nasarawa State stopped a truck bearing the license plate Lagos JJJ 64 YC. The truck was transporting 367 large bags of cannabis sativa, each weighing 4,037 kg, from Akure, Ondo State, to the Shabu neighborhood of Lafia, the state capital.
In relation to the seizure, three suspects were taken into custody: Shuaibu Yahaya Liman, 35; Monday Audu, 33; and Linus Samuel, 42.
Similarly, in Abuja, a truck with the license plate Ogun WDE 557 XC was intercepted along the Abaji-Abuja highway with 169 bags and 80 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 1,961.5 kilos. The suspects, Jibrin Shuaibu, 23, and Prosper Innih, 17, were taken into custody. As the truck was traveling from Uzeba to Dei-Dei, Federal Capital Territory, it was stopped and searched along the Abaji-Abuja route.
Abdulhameed Dauda, 27, was apprehended following additional operations in Abuja. He had 89 kg of psychoactive narcotics loaded into his vehicle in Owo, Ondo state, with plans to convey them to Gwagwalada in the Federal Capital Territory.
The spokeswoman stated that in a subsequent operation by The same material was being transported by Hassan Ade, a 30-year-old driver, who was stopped by authorities on the same day while carrying 696.5 kilogrammes of it from Idoani, Ondo State, to Gwagwalada and Dei-Dei in the Federal Capital Territory. He disclosed that a subsequent investigation resulted in the 42-year-old mother of three, Mrs. Joy Chukwuka, being taken into custody in connection with the shipment.
In a separate operation in the state of Ondo, 59 jumbo bags of cannabis were found hidden in a vehicle bearing the license plate GAD 287 XA, and NDLEA agents found 633.5 kilograms of cannabis in Eleyere, Ogbese in Akure North local government area.traveling to the nation’s northern region. He observed that the cannabis packets had detergents sprinkled on them, purportedly to mask the smell.
Operatives in Edo state found 187 kg of cannabis on Sapele Road in Benin, while in Kano, they detained 58-year-old Bashir Attahir in the Bachirawa region of the state after finding 216,000 tramadol tablets in his possession.
Along Emir Road in the Sabon Gari neighborhood of the city, another suspect, Ejike Moses Nmenme, 47, was apprehended the next day with 25,190 tramadol capsules and various amounts of rohypnol and codeine syrup; last Thursday, Yusuf Abdullahi Musa, 35, and Yusuf Musa, 28, were apprehended at Gadar Tamburawa with 1,000 ampoules of tramadol injection.
Ahmad Mohammed, a 42-year-old alleged drug dealer to rebels in Banki, a hamlet on the Nigerian-Cameroonian border, was taken into custody by NDLEA agents last Friday at the Bama checkpoint in Borno state. Twenty thousand tramadol capsules were found on him during the examination of his luggage, as he was traveling to the border town to deliver the opioid shipment.
Babafemi further stated that six suspects were detained for trafficking in illegal substances in Oraifite and Umuni-Evili, Aguleri, Anambra state. Among them were a 25-year-old woman, Amarachi Akaolisa, and a 21-year-old woman, Ifeoma Iheanyi. In operations carried out by NDLEA agents between last Tuesday and Thursday in various parts of the state, they seized over six kilogrammes of cannabis, tramadol, diazepam, and codeine syrup from Okwuchukwu Chukwuka, Onyedika Ngwu, Ekene Hyginus, and Nzomiwu Ikechukwu.
Furthermore, a number of suspects were taken into custody in Lagos, including three women: Ogah Adole, Boluwatife Adebayo, and Omolade Adebayo.
Omolade Adebayo said that when Ogah Adole and Boluwatife Adebayo were detained at Agidingbi, Ikeja, in relation to 220 grams of cannabis, 10.6 liters of codeine syrup, and other psychotropic substances,
In order to increase public awareness of drug misuse and trafficking in communities across the nation, the NDLEA also ran War Against Drug misuse (WADA) advocacy campaigns in marketplaces, schools, and places of worship.
Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd.), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, commended the efforts of the NDLEA Commands concerned and urged them to keep going above and beyond previous achievements in their drug supply reduction efforts.
These operations serve as a reminder of the NDLEA’s continuous efforts to stop drug addiction and trafficking, protect communities, and advance public health and safety.
