Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have seized over 24,311kg of heroin, codeine as well as Arizona and Colorado variants of cannabis in fresh drug busts at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja and the Tincan seaport, Apapa, Lagos State.
This is coming barely a week after the agency intercepted N6bn worth of Amphetamine, popularly known as jihadists’ drug at the Apapa port in Lagos.
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Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, said on Sunday in Abuja that the first seizure was on Friday 3rd September 2021 at the SAHCO export shed of the MMIA where two consignments containing 10.350kg heroin and 25.2kg cannabis from South Africa were intercepted.
He said that in series of sting operations between Saturday 4th September and Monday 6th September, in different parts of Lagos, four suspects were arrested, including Mrs Bello Kafayat Ayo, who was picked from Shino Street, Palmgroove area of the state.
Tincan seaport
At the Tincan seaport, Apapa, narcotic officers intercepted a 40ft container loaded with 22,590kg of Barcadin Codeine syrup on Monday 6th September following intelligence received from international partners on the container since May 2021.
“The container was also found to include 4,020.03kg of analgesic tablets and 47 cartons of insulated hot pots used to conceal the illicit drugs, all imported from India.
“Equally, on Friday 10th September, a consignment of Colorado weighing 17.5kg and hidden inside a Grand Caravan Dodge vehicle shipped in a 40ft container from Montreal, Canada, was also intercepted and seized at the Tincan port,” Babafemi said.
Meanwhile, a 20-year-old graduate, Miss Bee Okoro, was arrested in Abuja for producing and selling drugged candies and cookies.
A 27-year-old dispatch rider, Idewo Raimi, who handles door-to-door delivery for her was also arrested.
The suspects, who were arrested at Garki Area 11 on Friday 10th September, with a number of their drugged products and 400grams of Loud and Arizona, confessed they have been in the drug business for over a year.
Five States
In Edo State, 1,425.2kg of compressed blocks of cannabis Sativa were seized in a raid on Aviosi outskirt, close to Uzebba, Owan West LGA, on Monday 6th September, while on the same day one Yahaya Mamman was nabbed along Zaria-Danja Road, Kaduna with 10.3kg Tramadol and 60.5kg Exol-6.
The previous day, Thursday 5th September, one ThankGod Danladi was arrested at Tudun Wada area of Jalingo, the Taraba State capital with 44.2kg of cannabis.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives in Kwara State on Tuesday 7th September arrested a 36-year-old lady, Yusuf Sherifat, who recently completed a jail sentence following her conviction by a Federal High Court in Ilorin for dealing in 22 grams of crack cocaine.
Her latest arrest along Specialist Hospital Road, Alagbado, Ilorin, followed intelligence that she had resumed sales of crack cocaine in Ilorin metropolis, having devised another means of delivering drugs along the road to known customers who contact her via telephone calls.
In Gombe State, raids across the state between Wednesday 1st September and Friday 10th September led to the arrest of at least nine drug dealers from whom assorted illicit drugs weighing over 150kg were recovered.
One of such was the interception of a DAF truck loaded with 128kg of psychotropic substances coming from Onitsha, Anambra State along Gombe-Yola Road.
Reacting to the series of arrests and seizures, the Chairman/Chief Executive, NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), commended the commanders, officers and men of the commands for their resilience and bravery.
He said the series of arrests and seizures across the country further affirm NDLEA’s zero tolerance for production, trafficking and abuse of any illicit substance, warning that drug dealers who are yet to have a change of heart must be ready to contend with the agency.
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