THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it arrested 14,480 drug traffickers and seized 2.4 million kilogrammes of illicit drugs in the first 10 months of 2024.
According to the spokesperson of the agency, Femi Babafemi, the arrests and seizures were made between January and October 2024 at seaports, airports, land borders, and communities across the country.
Babafemi said the agency’s chairman, Muhammed Buba Marwa, presented the data on Wednesday, December 4, while briefing members of the House of Representatives Committee on Narcotic Drugs, who were on an oversight visit to the national headquarters of the agency in Abuja.
He said with the record of work done by the agency in the past 10 months, he was sure the NDLEA could beat its achievement in the previous three years.
“We have successfully located and destroyed 547,378 kilogrammes of cannabis plantations. Similarly, our drug demand reduction figure is on the positive side.
“In the past 10 months, the agency counselled and rehabilitated 6,655 drug users. In the breadth, we conducted a total of 3,064 awareness campaigns and sensitisation lectures in schools, motor parks, worship centres, workplaces, and communities, among others, which reached 1,327,181 people,” he stated.
He cited the largest single heroin seizure of 51.90 kg in the history of the agency at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in February, including securing life imprisonment sentences for some notorious drug traffickers, the arrest of the most wanted drug barons in Lagos, and the recent passage of the NDLEA Act amendment bill as some of the milestones of the agency in 2024.
While commending the lawmakers for their support in the outgoing year, Marwa urged them to remain steadfast so that the agency could achieve more.
In his remarks, the chairman of the House Committee on Narcotic Drugs, Abass Adigun, commended the leadership and personnel of the agency for their dedication.
He promised the agency that his committee’ would advocate for improved funding, modern tools, and a conducive working environment for all staff of the NDLEA.
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