THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested a 75-year-old grandpa, Usman Bokina Bajama, (alias Clemen), and 21 other suspects across seven states over tons of illicit drugs.

The agency, in a statement by its Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said operatives of the NDLEA, during the arrest, destroyed 1,001,387 bottles/capsules of banned new psychoactive substance, Akuskura, and tramadol, as well as 2,536 kilogrammes of cannabis.
“The septuagenarian was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday September 20, at Anguwan Sate, Mararraban Tola, Mayo Belwa council area of Adamawa State, where he had a cannabis plantation from where 49kg of the illicit substance was recovered,” the agency said.
Also in Kwara State, the NDLEA said, at least, 19,878 bottles of the banned new psychoactive substance, akuskura, were intercepted by operatives along the Ilorin-Jebba highway on Wednesday, September 21, and two suspects, Oladokun Oluwaseun, 49, and Ibrahim Jimoh, 27, were arrested.
The NDLEA said the suspects claimed the consignment, packed in 35 jumbo sacks, was loaded in Ibadan, Oyo State, and meant for distribution in Jos, Plateau State.
“Earlier, two suspects: Ukoro Ifeanyi, 46, and Idowu Toyosi, 20, were arrested with 2,290 capsules of tramadol and 100 bottles of codeine-based syrup at Mararaba park, Ilorin.

“The drugs were brought in from Onitsha, Anambra State. In Lagos, NDLEA operatives, acting on credible intelligence, intercepted a Volvo truck loaded with 2,146 kilogrammes of cannabis at the Sangotedo area of Ajah and three suspects: Abdulazeez Rasheed, Afeez Raheem, and Moshood Suleiman, were arrested,” the NDLEA said.
The statement added that, at least, 979,119 capsules of expired pregabalin weighing 733kg were recovered from Musbahu Ya’u, 28, and five others at the Dansarai area of Kano, while in Enugu, 197.8kg of cannabis was recovered in a store at New market, Enugu, on Tuesday, September 20.
Similarly, it said 117.7kg of the psychoactive substance was intercepted along the Okene-Abuja expressway in a truck from Lagos to Abuja.
In Edo State, six cannabis farmers were arrested when NDLEA operatives stormed their farms at Chigbite, Utese forest in Ovia North East LGA and Ekudo forest, Uhunmonde LGA, where over 10 hectares of cannabis plantation were destroyed and more than 193kg of the processed illicit substance seized.
“Those arrested include David Hanson, Ufuoma Progress, Marvelous Armstrong, Marvelous Efe, Joshua Abubakar, and Elijah Abubakar,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, anti-narcotic officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, arrested two freight agents over attempts to smuggle 26.20kg of cannabis concealed in cereal packs through the SAHCO shed for export to Dubai, UAE.
According to the agency, the consignment was abandoned at the shed before the airport security transferred it to NDLEA.
The anti-narcotic agency further said, “Further investigation by the agency led to the arrest of Olatunbosun Damilola Abimbola, 34, who works at Ashadox Logistics Services, a cargo company, on Friday 23rd September. He confessed to the crime but stated that he acted on the instructions of his Managing Director, Oloyede Shakiru Abiola, who was promptly arrested.”
The NDLEA said the 40-year-old indigene of Ibadan West Local Government Area of Oyo State stated that due to the strict security measures put in place by the NDLEA, he was forced to abandon the cargo to avoid being detected.
A reporter with the ICIR
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