OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have set ablaze a large warehouse of skunk used to store 231 jumbo bags of the psychotropic substance weighing 3,003 kilograms (over three tons) in Iwe community, Owan West Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo State.
The operation by the NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, May 30, was prompted by intelligence indicating that a notorious drug kingpin had stockpiled a substantial amount of the illegal substance within the forest, with intentions to distribute it to various regions of the country.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babfemi, on Sunday, June 4.
According to the statement, about 76.9 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, were recovered from four used vehicles in a container marked MSDU6686346 from Canada at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers state between Thursday June 1 and Friday June 2, during a joint inspection of the shipment with men of the Nigeria Customs Service.
The request for examination of the shipment followed earlier intelligence received by the NDLEA on the container.
Parts of the statement read: “In Kano State, two suspects: Ma’aruf Rabiu and Abubakar Mustapha were arrested on Tuesday 30th May along Zaria-Kano road with 260 blocks of cannabis weighing 139.4kg, while Auwal Ibrahim was nabbed with 38kg of the same substance the following day Wednesday 31st May along Kaduna-Abuja road, same day 35-year-old female suspect, Bilkisu Isiya, was arrested at Birnin Yero, Kaduna in possession of 5.6kg cannabis.
“In Borno State, two suspects: Abubakar Usman (aka Alhaji Mai Kero) and Adamu Yusuf were arrested at Bargu village, Shani LGA, on Saturday 3rd June with 165 blocks of skunk weighing 140.7kg. Their arrest was effected deep inside a fluid insurgents’ environment with military support.
“A female suspect, Hauwa Ibrahim, 25, was also nabbed in the same village with 6.4kg of the psychoactive substance, while another suspect Alhaji Abubakar, 27, was arrested at Njimtilo checkpoint with 4,200 ampoules of pentazocine injection and different quantities of D5 and exol-5 tablets.”
The statement added that a 30-year-old suspect, Iroko Wasiu, was arrested at a drug joint at Sabo Aba-Owolowo along Oyo-Ogbomoso expressway on May 30, and 31.2kg of cannabis recovered from him, while two suspects: Deji Adelabu, 35, and Mutiu Salau, 37, were nabbed the following day, May 31, in the Sabo area along Oyo-Ogbomoso road and Awuro Dada area in Orire LGA of Oyo State, while a total of 8kg cannabis recovered from them.
NDLEA chairman Mohamed Marwa commended the officers and men of the Edo, Onne Ports, Kano, Kaduna, Borno and Oyo state Commands for their commitment and synergy with other law enforcement agencies in their areas of responsibility.
Marwa further urged the officers and their compatriots across the country to intensify the offensive action against drug cartels while ensuring a balance with drug demand reduction efforts.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M