NDLEA sets ablaze 1.8 tons of cocaine

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has destroyed 1.8 tons of cocaine it recovered from a warehouse in Ikorodu area of Lagos last week. 

Speaking at the crushing and setting ablaze of the illicit drug on Tuesday in Badagry area of Lagos State, the chairman/chief executive of the agency, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), said tougher time awaits drug barons and cartels operating in Nigeria if they failed to back out of the criminal trade and embrace legitimate ventures.

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Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Tuesday, recalled that NDLEA had in an operation that lasted two days last week, stormed a warehouse at 6 Olukunola Street, Solebo Estate Ikorodu, Lagos where 1.8 tons of cocaine were recovered and five suspects includ-ing a Jamaican were arrested.

“Following the historical seizure, which is the largest in the agency’s history, an order of the Federal High Court in Lagos was obtained for the public destruction of the consignment,” he said.

Speaking at the venue of the destruction of the cocaine haul, Marwa, represented by the agen-cy’s Director, Prosecution and Legal Services, Deputy Commander General of Narcotics (DCGN), Sunday Joseph, said the sheer volume of the drug haul, with a street value of about $278, 250,000 (equivalent to N194, 775,000,000), speaks volumes about the extent of the nefari-ous activities of the drug underworld.

He said that made it imperative for Nigerians to continue to support NDLEA in the renewed war against illicit drugs.

According to him, out of the 1.8-ton seizure, 1,828 blocks of cocaine would  be crushed and set ablaze while the remnant would be secured for purpose of prosecution of the suspects who were brought to witness the procedure and sign the certificate of destruction.