AHEAD of the May 29 inauguration of new governments at the state and federal levels, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) conducted raids on drug joints across the country during which 534 suspects were arrested.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi disclosed this in a statement on Friday, May 19.
The nationwide raid on drug joints is an exercise code-named ‘Operation Mop Up’.
The exercise is aimed at ridding the country of hard drugs which can be used by troublemakers to disrupt the May 29 inauguration.
According to the statement, the raid is part of “law enforcement efforts to remove enablers of crime and violence in the form of illicit substances and those who deal in them to ensure the peaceful inauguration of new administrations at national and sub-national levels across the country on May 29”.
“Not less than 534 suspects have been arrested in the first few days of the commencement of the operation, during which tons of illicit drugs including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, tramadol, codeine-based syrup, cannabis sativa and various new psychoactive substances among others, were recovered across the states and the FCT.”
States where the highest number of arrests and seizures were made are Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Kaduna, Rivers, Bayelsa, Adamawa, Osun, Benue and Plateau.
The statement added that NDLEA chairman, Mohammed Marwa, who ordered the operation, commended all the officers and men of the state commands and other formations involved in the exercise for their professionalism and for following the Agency’s standard operating procedure.
“I am impressed by the level of compliance with the directive to all our Commands and formations to dismantle all drug joints within their areas of responsibility, mop up all illicit substances in such locations and arrest all those culpable.
“This will in no small measure take out of the equation enablers of crime and violence such as illicit drugs, their dealers, and all those relying on mind-altering substances to disrupt the May 29 inauguration ceremonies across the states and the Federal Capital Territory”, Marwa stated.
Marwa charged the officers to continue with the operational maxim of ‘offensive action’ against drug cartels and traffickers until the last gram of illicit drug is removed from the streets and communities across the country.
The ICIR reported on Thursday, May 18, that 34 persons were arrested for drug-related offences by the NDLEA following raids on illicit drug joints in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
NDLEA Commander in the FCT Kabir Tsakuwa disclosed the development in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The Commander said operatives of the Agency also seized various kinds of illicit substances during the newly launched ‘Operation Tsaro’ aimed at crippling the FCT drug market.
According to Tsakuwa, operation Tsaro was launched on May 8 ahead of the handover to a new administration on May 29.
A reporter with the ICIR
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