NDLEA arrests 23,907 traffickers, 29 barons in 22 months

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it seized over 100m pills of the pharmaceutical opioid, Tramadol that could have impacted negatively on the youth population and national productivity in Nigeria in 22 months.

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), said this on Tuesday in Abuja during the Commands Awards/Commendations and decoration of newly promoted officers.

“Within the period under review, the agency arrested 23,907 drug traffickers including 29 barons. Our seizure was over 5,500 tons or 5.5m kilograms of assorted illicit drugs, which together with cash seized are worth over N450bn.

“In the same period, we have taken the fight to the doorsteps of cannabis growers by destroying 772.5 hectares of cannabis farms. In these 22 months, we have record convictions of 3,434 offenders. We have equally made good strides in our drug demand reduction efforts where the number of those counselled and rehabilitated is 16,114.

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“The figures are mere statistics until you view them through the lens of human impact and the harm that could have come to society, the impact on public health, security as well as law and order if those dangerous drugs had gone to the street. Take, for instance, the one hundred million pills of tramadol seized in the past 22 months.

“If those pills had gone into circulation and ended up in the hands of young people, it would take a heavy toll on lives, families, productivity and, ultimately, the GDP of the country because it will affect these young people who are the engine room of our country’s productivity,” Marwa said.

Moreso, the NDLEA boss promoted 1,018 personnel to strengthen its capacity to deliver on the agency’s anti-narcotic mandate.

“We usually calculate our performance as monthly, quarterly or yearly appraisals. But drug law enforcement is generally a continuum, hence, I am wanting to always appraise our efforts from January 2021, when we began far-reaching reforms, reviewed our strategies and rejigged the existing systems to accommodate innovations.

“From then till now, we have been on an upward trajectory. And indeed, what we have done in the last 22 months, from January 2021 to October 2022, based on the available statistics, is cause for celebration,” Marwa said.

He charged the promoted and those who got commendation awards to rededicate themselves while assuring others with such expectations to be hopeful.