Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) stormed Iwe forest in Iwe community, Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State, where they located a large warehouse of skunk, used to store 231 jumbo bags of the psychotropic substance weighing 3,003 kilogrammes (over three tonnes), which was set ablaze.
This was disclosed by NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, June 4, 2023.
The operation involving hundreds of well-armed NDLEA operatives was carried out in the early hours of Tuesday, May 30, following intelligence that a wanted drug kingpin had stored tonnes of the illicit substance in the forest ready for distribution to other parts of the country.
Meanwhile, not less than 76.9 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis were recovered from four used vehicles in a container marked MSDU6686346 from Canada at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State between Thursday, June 1 and Friday, June 2, during a joint inspection of the shipment with men of the Nigeria Customs Service.
“The request for 100 percent examination of the shipment followed earlier intelligence received by the Agency on the container,” Babafemi said.
In Kano State, two suspects – Ma’aruf Rabiu and Abubakar Mustapha – were reportedly arrested on Tuesday May 30, along Zaria-Kano road, with 260 blocks of cannabis weighing 139.4 kilogrammes, while Auwal Ibrahim was nabbed with 38 kilogrammes of the same substance the following day Wednesday, May 31, along Kaduna-Abuja road.
Also on the same day, 35-year-old female suspect, Balkisu Isiya, was arrested at Birnin Yero, Kaduna, in possession of 5.6 kilogrammes of cannabis.
In Borno State, two suspects – Abubakar Usman (aka Alhaji Mai Kero) and Adamu Yusuf – were arrested at Bargu village, Shani Local Government Area, on Saturday, June 3, with 165 blocks of skunk weighing 140.7 kilogrammes.
According to Babafemi, their arrest was effected deep inside a fluid insurgents’ environment with military support.
A female suspect, Hauwa Ibrahim, 25, was also said to have been nabbed in the same village with 6.4 kilogrammes of the psychoactive substance, while another suspect Alhaji Abubakar, 27, was arrested at Njimtilo checkpoint with 4,200 ampoules of pentazocine injection and different quantities of D5 and exol-5 tablets.
A 30-year-old suspect, Iroko Wasiu, was arrested at a drug joint at Sabo Aba-Owolowo along Oyo-Ogbomoso expressway on Tuesday, May 30, and 31.2kg of cannabis recovered from him, while two suspects – Deji Adelabu, 35, and Mutiu Salau, 37, – were nabbed the following day at Sabo area along Oyo- Ogbomoso road and Ahoro Dada area in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State with a total of 8kg cannabis recovered from them.
Commending the officers and men of the Edo, Onne Ports, Kano, Kaduna, Borno and Oyo state commands for their commitment and synergy with other law enforcement agencies in their areas of responsibility, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), urged them and their compatriots across the country to intensify the offensive action against drug cartels while ensuring a balance with drug demand reduction efforts.
