The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested a 75-year-old man, Uchelue Ikechukwu, and several others with illicit substances in raids across the country.
The agency also destroyed 178,750 kilograms of cannabis sativa (skunk) on a 71.5-hectare farm in Mayodoga forest, Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
He said Ikechukwu was arrested in Umudioka, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State with 26.7kg of skunk on Aug. 28. Six other suspects were also picked up in the state with various quantities of opioids and cannabis.
“In Taraba, a 30-year-old suspect, Alfa Andrew, was arrested with a Dane gun on Aug. 26 when NDLEA operatives, supported by the Nigerian Army and other security groups, stormed his 71.5-hectare cannabis farm in Mayodoga forest where 178,750kg of skunk were destroyed,” Babafemi said.
He added that operatives also intercepted 104,900 tramadol capsules hidden in a fuel tanker at the Abuja/Kaduna tollgate, Kaduna, believed to be heading to insurgents in Borno. The driver, Hassan Buba, was arrested.
Similarly, a major supplier of illicit opioids in Borno State, 33-year-old Uchenna Umeh, was arrested in Maiduguri with 30,640 tramadol pills, 7,940 rohypnol tablets and N7.9 million cash.
In other operations, NDLEA seized thousands of pills and bottles of codeine syrup in Nasarawa, Adamawa, Gombe, Kano, Edo, Lagos, Ondo, and Ekiti states. In Ekiti, a suspected drug kingpin, Ajayi Ayodeji Idowu, was arrested with large consignments of Loud, Colorado, and methamphetamine.
According to Babafemi, the NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the operatives for their efforts and charged them to sustain the momentum in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking.
He also praised the agency’s state commands for intensifying sensitization campaigns under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) programme in schools, religious centres, traditional institutions, and workplaces nationwide.
