THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said it intercepted over 4,000 kilogrammes of illicit and controlled drugs in various states, including Lagos, Kogi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Sokoto, Edo and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The intercepted drugs include consignments of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, skunk, codeine syrup, methamphetamine and tramadol.
A statement by the agency’s spokesperson on Sunday, September 24, said about 1,194 cylinders of laughing gas weighing 2,547.2 kilogrammes and loaded in two Toyota Sienna buses were on Friday, September 22, intercepted by the NDLEA operatives along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway.
The agency arrested two suspects, Onyebuchi Ikpozu and Kenneth Igwe, over the drugs. The two were said to be taking the consignments to the FCT.
The agency said one 48-year-old woman, Ugo Eluba, was arrested in Abuja in a follow-up operation after 2,400 ampules of pentazocine injection and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 intercepted in Kogi state were traced to her.
“In the FCT, operatives intercepted 977 kilogrammes of skunk on Wednesday, 20th September, in a trailer marked LSR 343 XW, bearing cartons of Maggi. The skunk consignment was loaded into the truck at Ipele junction in Ondo state.
“While 959kgs of the substance were meant for distribution in Sokoto state, the rest would be dropped off at Gwagwalada. Two suspects, Auwal Mohammed and Abdullahi Abubakar, have been arrested in connection with the seizure, while two other suspects, Mutari Abdulazeez, 31, and Ayuba Madaki, 28, were also arrested on Saturday 23rd September, in the Zuba area of the FCT with different quantities of methamphetamine, cannabis and 13, 930 pills of tramadol.”
In the same vein, other suspects, Shuaibu Yusif, 27, and Abubakar Hussaini, 20, were on Saturday, 23rd September, nabbed with 89.1kgs of skunk along Kano -Hadejia road, Jigawa state, during a stop and search patrol by NDLEA operatives.
In another operation, the NDLEA recovered about 6,000 ampules of pentazocine injection from a suspect, Usman Musa Sidi, 35, on Monday, September 18, along Abuja – Forest road, Kaduna, on his way to Bauchi state.
In a follow-up operation, the agency in Bauchi arrested the owner of the consignment, Dominic Chukwuma, 35, on Tuesday, September 19, with at least 2.58kgs of Diazepam and 36.55kgs of pentazocine injection recovered from his home.
Two other individuals, Inuwa Nuhu and Isiyaku Dahiru Sani, were apprehended in connection with the discovery of 49 blocks of cannabis sativa concealed in a black sack, weighing 26kgs, inside a commercial vehicle travelling from Ogere, Ogun state, to Kano
“While a total of 183kgs of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis, were recovered from body compartments of a J5 bus intercepted in Lagos on Wednesday 20th September, operatives in Sokoto, on Tuesday 19th September arrested one Charles Okeke, 44, with 473 bottles of codeine syrup at Unguwar Kosai area of Sokoto.
“In Edo state, 365 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 258kgs were recovered from a Toyota Camry car marked KTU 886 EZ at Igarra, Akoko Edo LGA,” the statement added.
The NDLEA said it conducted a large-scale operation in Ekiti state, destroying 40 tons (40,000 kilograms) of cannabis plants covering 16 hectares of farmland in Ijesha Isu-Ekiti.
The agency stated it had intensified its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, conducting sensitization lectures and advocacy visits in various institutions, worship centres, and communities to contain the illicit drug business.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M