THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said it arrested 23,907 traffickers and seized drugs worth over N450 billion within 22 months.
The arrest and seizure took place between January 2021 to October 2022
NDLEA chairman Mohammed Buba Marwa disclosed details of the agency’s operations in Abuja on Tuesday, December 20.
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“Within the period under review, the Agency arrested 23,907 drug traffickers, including 29 barons. Our seizure was over 5,500 tons or 5.5 million kilograms of assorted illicit drugs, which together with cash seized are worth over N450 billion,” Marwa said.
He added that the NDLEA has taken the fight against drugs to the doorsteps of cannabis growers by destroying 772. 5 hectares of cannabis farms.
“In these 22 months, we have record convictions of 3,434 offenders. We have equally made good strides in our drug demand reduction efforts, where the number of those counselled and rehabilitated is 16,114.
“The figures are mere statistics until you view them through the lens of human impact and the good or harm that could have come to society, the impact on public health, security as well as law and order if those dangerous drugs had gone to the street.*
In the same vein, Marwa notes that the NDLEA management is committed to doing everything possible to improve productivity on the job.
“We usually calculate our performance as monthly, quarterly or yearly appraisals. But drug law enforcement is generally a continuum; hence, I want to always appraise our efforts from January 2021, when we began far-reaching reforms, reviewed our strategies and rejigged the existing systems to accommodate innovations,” he said.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance