CHAIRMAN of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Buba Marwa, on Sunday, warned operatives working with sister security agencies against hiding under the guise of uniforms to engage in drug trafficking.
He said any security operative caught in the act would not be spared.
Marwa spoke just as the NDLEA announced the arrest of a serving officer of a law enforcement agency for selling illicit drugs to students of a federal university and cultists in Ogun State.
“Those who think they can sabotage ongoing efforts to rid Nigeria of the menace of illicit drug trafficking and abuse hiding behind the façade of their uniforms should better think twice because they will have NDLEA to contend with.
“We will not only arrest and expose them but we will equally prosecute them and seize all assets acquired through the proceeds of their criminal act,” Marwa warned.
The alleged drug dealer, according to NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy Femi Babafemi, served in the Lagos State Command of the security agency.
In a statement issued in Abuja, the NDLEA disclosed that the suspect was arrested on Wednesday, June 15.
The NDLEA revealed that the unnamed suspect used his wife’s shop, located in the camp area of Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, as a sales point.
The agency said the man was apprehended after days of surveillance.
According to him, one of his salesmen, a motorcycle rider, was trailed to the location at about 8:00 pm and arrested with six pinches of Colorado weighing 1.17grams.
He noted that the incident occurred before the principal suspect, who had been on the agency’s watch list, was nabbed with different illicit drugs.
The NDLEA’s spokesperson gave the breakdown of the substances recovered from the suspect as codeine -17 bottles; cannabis -22.26 grams; tramadol 230 tablets -98grams; 61 tablets of flunitrazepam -23.72grams; 113 tablets of molly -48.16grams and sex drops -43.92grams.
“After the arrest of the two suspects, some student union officials of the institution blocked the NDLEA team with their official vehicle.
“The narcotic agents, however, restrained themselves and after hours of standoff, succeeded in moving the suspects to custody,” NDLEA spokesman Babafemi stated.
The agency has made several seizures since 2021. For instance, in February, the NDLEA seized cocaine worth over N32 billion at the Lagos port. In March, N60 billion worth of narcotic drugs was seized within six weeks.
By April, the agency also announced the seizure of N80 billion worth of drugs. The following month, a Nigerian drug lord was arrested with cocaine worth N8 billion.
Babafemi also revealed how another drug dealer was arrested by operatives of the Oyo State Command in Ilorin, Kwara State. The accused was intercepted with a parcel of cocaine and heroin that weighed 10.5grams and 4.8grams, respectively, on June 13.
“The following day, two ladies, aged 40 and 39, respectively, were arrested at total Garden, Ibadan when NDLEA operatives acting on a tip-off, intercepted their commercial Micra car.
“The two women were arrested with seven bags of cannabis weighing 77.23kg brought in from Ogbese, Ondo State, to supply a man they simply identified as Alhaji.
“According to them, they had earlier supplied the same Alhaji two bags before coming with the seven bags they were caught with,” he stated.
In Oyo, the agency stated that operatives of the state command also raided the residence of another Alhaji at Elebu area, Akala expressway, Oluyole LGA, Ibadan, on Friday, June 18.
According to him, 43 ampoules of methylphenidate were recovered.
In Kaduna, Babafemi said another drug trafficker was arrested at Panteka area of Kaduna State on June 17, with 211.5kg of skunk, heading to Kano State.
Similarly, he said a Nigerian returning from Pakistan was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.
He said five pellets of heroin weighing 250grams were discovered in the suspect’s anus.
Babafemi added that the suspect had arrived at the ‘D’ arrival hall of the Lagos airport on June 14, on a Turkish airline flight from Pakistan with the illicit drug.
The officers from Ogun, Oyo, Kaduna, and the MMIA commands of the agency were also applauded by Marwa for the their efforts in the campaign against illicit drug trafficking.
Olugbenga heads the Investigations Desk at The ICIR. Do you have a scoop? Shoot him an email at [email protected]. Twitter Handle: @OluAdanikin