THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it seized 29,789 drugs between January and February 2024.
Cannabis accounts for the most significant number of seizures, with 26,876, while 68 kilogrammes of cocaine were confiscated.
The anti-drug trafficking agency also arrested 2,744 drug traffickers within the period.
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Among those arrested, 805 cases were charged to court, 684 persons, including 636 males and 48 females, were convicted, and 316 persons were rehabilitated.
These figures were contained in data covering January and February 2024, which the Agency, through its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, sent to The ICIR on Tuesday, April 2.
According to the data, 2,437 males and 307 females were arrested within the period.
Previous data
The NDLEA said in February that it prosecuted 3,412 drug offenders in 2023.
The agency’s chairman, Marwa, said among those prosecuted were 15 drug kingpins who bagged 168 years jail terms collectively.
“According to our statistics, we recorded 13, 664 arrests leading to the seizure of 1,606, 799.09 kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs and 3,412 convictions with a total of 5, 570 offenders charged to court in 2023. It’s indeed a year that at least 15 drug kingpins bagged 168 years of imprisonment collectively,” Marwa said while addressing journalists at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
In previous data obtained from the agency at the end of 2023, the NDLEA said it arrested 12,061 drug traffickers between January and November 2023.
The agency also stated that it secured 3,132 convictions within the period.
The data showed that 10,903 males and 1,153 females were arrested.
On February 27, The ICIR reported the NLDEA intercepting the largest consignment of heroin at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos State.
The agency also said it arrested some members of the cartel who owned the drugs.
According to the agency, the group specialised in trafficking heroin across Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique, Europe and America.
Earlier, in January, the agency declared an ex-beauty queen, Aderinoye Queen Christmas, wanted after she fled her residence in Lagos during a raid.
In a statement signed by the agency’s director of media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, January 28, NDLEA operatives had raided her apartment at Oral Estate, Lekki, on Wednesday, January 24, following credible intelligence that deals in illicit substances.
Aderinoye was Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture 2015/2016 and founder of the Queen Christmas Foundation.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance