The individual budgets of Osun, Yobe, Zamfara and four other states in the country are less than the worth of the latest cocaine seizure by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
NDLEA operatives busted a major warehouse in a secluded estate in Ikorodu area of Lagos State where 1.8tons (1,855kgs) of cocaine worth over $278,250,000, equivalent of about N194,775,000,000 in street value were seized.
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According to Femi Babafemi, spokesman of the agency, the operation appear to have led to the seizure of the biggest singular cocaine deal in the history of the agency’s operations.
According to him, at least four drug barons including a Jamaican and the warehouse manager were arrested in the well coordinated and intelligence led operation that lasted two days across different locations in Lagos State.
“Kingpins of the cocaine cartel in custody include: Messrs Soji Jibril, 69, an indigene of Ibadan, Oyo state; Emmanuel Chukwu, 65, who hails from Ekwulobia, Anambra State; Wasiu Akinade, 53, from Ibadan, Oyo State; Sunday Oguntelure, 53, from Okitipupa, Ondo State and Kelvin Smith, 42, a native of Kingston, Jamaica.
“They are all members of an international drug syndicate that the agency has been trailing since 2018,” Babafemi said.
Located at 6 Olukuola crescent, Solebo estate, Ikorodu, the warehouse was raided on Sunday 18th September, 2022, while the barons were picked from hotels and their hideouts in different parts of Lagos between Sunday night and Monday 19th September.
Analysis by Daily Trust shows that none of the individual budgets of 7 states in 2022 is up to N194.7bn.
The budgets of Kogi for 2022 is N145.8bn; Adamawa, N163bn; Abia, N147.28bn; Enugu, N186.6 billion and Osun, N129.7bn.
Yobe’s 2022 budget is worth N163.9bn, while Zamfara is N159.5 bn
