Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) launched fresh raids on online drug traffickers in the FCT during which a lady, her boyfriend and eight others were arrested with hard drugs.
The spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday in Abuja, said the first suspect, 28-year-old Ese Patrick, who sells illicit substances through her Instagram account, Ese’sOvenSecret, was tracked and arrested by NDLEA’s undercover agents on May 21, 2021, when she and her boyfriend delivered drugged brownies in a Mercedes Benz car.
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According to him, a follow up operation at her residence led to the seizure of 400g of Arizona weed, which she used in baking the brownies.
He explained that, “Further investigation led to the arrest of one Iyama Patrick, with 450g of Arizona weed. He supplies Ese the cannabis.
“A day earlier, a motorcycle belonging to a courier company, Sky Port, was abandoned by its rider in Wuse Zone 4 by NDLEA’s outpost. The motorcycle was later found to contain several pinches of crack cocaine aka Challie and envelopes of Arizona meant for delivery.
“Another online drug trafficker, Peter Nkejika, was arrested on Monday, May 24, 2021, following the arrest of a dispatch rider with some quantity of Loud, a highly psychoactive variant of cannabis. Each portion of loud costs N30,000, and the rider was caught with 17 portions for delivery.”
Also, on Tuesday, May 25, NDLEA operatives intercepted two online drug transactions and arrested two dispatch riders with quantities of cocaine and Loud packaged for delivery.
In all, five dispatch riders and a lady, Dolapo Benjamin, who owns motorcycles involved in door-to-door distribution of drugs and drug-based edibles – cakes and brownies – were arrested and six dispatch motorcycles seized.
Also seized from the suspects were assorted drugs comprising cocaine, crack/Challie, Molly/Ecstasy, Skunk, Brownies and Loud.
In a related development, on May 27, 2021, NDLEA operatives intercepted 30 compressed parcels of cannabis which were headed for Ningi in Bauchi State, as well as Rohypnol and Tramadol meant for the FCT on the Gwagwalada-Abuja Road in a luxury bus. Three persons were arrested in connection with the exhibits.
Two more dispatch motorcycles were seized, with some quantities of cocaine and cannabis on Saturday, May 29, as the raids across the FCT intensified.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) of the agency intercepted 445g of Methamphetamine going to New Zealand and concealed inside USB chargers and hair attachments, with another 450g of cannabis sativa going to UAE and concealed inside local soap containers at a courier company in Lagos.
In the same vein, 125g of heroin concealed inside academic thesis books was seized at another firm while 2kg of cannabis sativa hidden inside a tractor’s balloon was intercepted at another courier company, also in Lagos.
