•Arrests two fake security agents, nursing mother, recovers 1,769kg of narcotics
Hardline drug cartels’ desperate efforts to export different quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and cannabis to London, United Kingdom, through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos State were thwarted on Thursday, October 28, 2021, by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) when they intercepted the drugs.
Among the drugs intercepted were 20 parcels of cocaine weighing 1.2kg concealed in packets of Zee black soap, 23 parcels of heroin weighing 1.4kg hidden in packets of Zee black soap and 39 parcels of 2.35kg Methamphetamine concealed in Dudu -Osun black soap packets.
Narcotic officers of the Agency made the discovery during outward routine clearance of cargo at NAHCO export shed of the airport, according to NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
A week earlier, on October 21, a similar cargo had been intercepted at the NAHCO shed of the MMIA, where 7.35kgs of cannabis concealed inside some tablets of Dudu Osun black soap were recovered.
No fewer than three suspects have so far been arrested in connection to the seizures, Babafemi disclosed.
Barely a week after she was arrested and granted bail for attempting to smuggle drugs concealed in cassava flour meal called ‘akpu’ into NDLEA cell for a suspect in custody, a nursing mother who claims to be a part-time Part 4 student of International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of Benin, Mariam Adetilewa Dirisu, was again arrested for trafficking in five-kilogramme skunk and 8.1 grammes of Molly.
The 35-year-old mother of a two-month-old baby was first arrested on October 21 by the Edo State Command of the Agency.
Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) had on the same day directed that she be counselled and released immediately because of the young baby she was carrying. Curiously, a controlled delivery operation carried out by operatives of the Delta State Command of the Agency on Saturday, October 30, again led to the arrest of Mariam who had ordered for the drugs from Lagos even while still on bail for an earlier offence.
The Media and Advocacy Director also stated that in Ondo State, no less than 1,645 kilogrammes of cannabis were seized in three interdiction operations in parts of the state. Operatives had on October 28 stormed Emure cannabis farm camp where 313 kilogrammes of cannabis were seized and seven suspects – Paul Godwin, Michael Nnaji, Ezugu Lucky, Omolu Sunday, Simon Taiwo, David Udofia, and M. Suleiman – arrested.
The previous day, operatives had raided the Ipele-Idoani forest where 534kg of abandoned compressed cannabis were recovered, just as a total of 798 kilogrammes of cannabis were seized from two suspects, Gbenga Falodun and Faseyitan Opeyemi, at Ikare junction, Owo area of the state.
Also recovered from them were a white Mercedes Benz truck with registration number Lagos LSR 06 XW and monetary exhibit of N20,000.
Again, at least two suspected fake security agents, Umar Ibrahim and Sadiq Abubakar, as well as their accomplice, Auwal Hassan, were arrested in Kogi State while conveying a total of 105.4 kilogrammes of cannabis from Ondo State to Kaduna on Saturday, October 30, in a Mercedes Benz C 180 car with registration number Abuja BWR 924 KH.
Raids at three black spots in Oshodi, Ikeja and Ogba areas of Lagos State on October 23 also led to the arrest of a 15-year-old female SSSII student of Idi-Araba Senior High School, Walaka (surname withheld), at No. 72 Mafoluku Road, Oshodi, with 100 grammes of cannabis sativa; Sodiq Ganun, a 24-year-old welder with 200 grammes of cannabis at the same address and Tajudeen Azeez, at Ipodo, Ikeja, with nine grammes of cocaine.
At a drug joint in Ogba area of Ikeja, different quantities of abandoned drugs such as Molly, Rohypnol and Codeine-based syrup were recovered.
Commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Delta, Ondo, Kogi and Lagos Commands of the Agency for not resting on their oars, Gen. Marwa charged them and their counterparts in other commands to remain resolute in the ongoing efforts to cut access and availability of illicit drugs across the country.
