By Princess-Ekwi Ajide, Abuja
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have continued making waves in their onslaught against drug traffickers in various parts of the country in the past two weeks.
The operatives arrested a trans-border drug dealer, Pastor Anietie Okon Effiong with three drums of crystal methamphetamine, locally called “Mkpuru Mmiri”, believed to have been imported from India.
The consignment weighing 90 kilograms was intercepted during a stop and search operation along Umuahia – Ikot Ekpene highway on Saturday 6th August 2022 and Ojuelegba in Lagos .
The drug, loaded in a commercial bus in Lagos was packed in 30kg per drum for onward delivery to Cameroon, was meant for Pastor Anietie Okon Effiong, who was arrested in a follow up operation at Oron beach in Oron.
This arrest and seizure came on the heels of four seizures of the same illicit substance weighing 4.074kg going to Australia, Indonesia and Philippines with a 3kg cannabis sativa heading to Dubai, United Arab Emirates at some courier companies in Lagos.
The consignments were concealed in body cream, hot burner, iron and beads.
In Enugu, the operatives recovered 143.5kg cannabis sativa from locked up stores in new market area of the state capital on Saturday 6th August while in Delta, a suspect, Ike Okparachi, aged 42, was arrested at Abraka Junction, Asaba with 10,550 tablets of Tramadol 225mg; Swinol; Rohypnol; and 3,105 bottles of codeine syrup as well as 69grams of Molly.
A 90-year-old retired soldier, Usman Adamu was arrested on Wednesday 3rd August in Sokoto State for supplying illicit drugs to bandits.
At the time of his arrest, the suspect was caught with 5.1kg of cannabis sativa.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, a 37-year-old indigene of Ovia LGA, Edo State and resident in Italy; Solo Osamede was arrested for ingesting 41 wraps of heroin.
He was nabbed and taken into custody for excretion while attempting to board a Turkish Airline flight to Milan, Italy via Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday 30th July.
The swallowed wraps of the illicit drug were recovered in four excretions, which the suspect completed on Monday 1st August.
In the same vein, a female passenger, Jatau Lydia Lami was arrested at the Lagos airport for attempting to export 1,700 tablets of Tramadol 225mg concealed in her luggage to Istanbul, Turkey via a Turkish Airline flight on Sunday 31st July.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect, a mother of three, hails from Zango Kataf LGA, Kaduna State and lives in Istanbul, Turkey with her family.
She blamed her action on pressure to raise N5million ransom to free her mother from the captivity of bandits who kidnapped her since June.
Also at the SAHCO export shed of the airport, attempts by some freight agents to export two consignments of cannabis in a consolidated cargo to Dubai, UAE on Thursday 4th August were thwarted by NDLEA operatives who have arrested two of them in follow up operations.
They are: Oladipupo Oladapo Fatai and Animashaun Qudus, while two others are still at large.
In Zamfara, NDLEA operatives on Thursday 4th August intercepted a truck from Benin, Edo state enroute Sokoto with 50,000 tablets of Diazepam owned by a drug dealer, Umaru Attahiru, while in Kogi, 14 sacks containing 1,376 bottles of codeine based syrup weighing 190.4kg were seized along Okene-Abuja highway on Wednesday 3rd Aug.
The exhibits were found in a delivery bus coming from Onitsha, Anambra and heading to Abuja.
Follow up operation in Abuja same day led to the arrest of Jude Ikenna and Ozoemene Cornelius.
In Kaduna, four suspects: Sulaiman Rabi’u; Sanusi Sha’aibu; Ma’aruf Habibu and Christian Nnachor, were arrested in Zaria, Tafa and Romi Kaduna with 106, 770 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, Diazepam, Exol-5 and 100 bottles of codeine cough syrup.
A statement signed by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi, said the Chairman of NDLEA, retired Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended the officers and men of the various Commands of the Agency as well as those of the Directorate of Operation and General Investigation for their recent feats and charged them and others across the country to remain focused and vigilant.
