… Recovers Over 2.3 Tons Of Illicit Drugs In Raids Across Eight States
…Intercepts Colos Shipments From UK, Uncovers Opioids In Loaves Of Bread
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted two shipments of synthetic cannabis, popularly known as Colorado or “Colos,” concealed in consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom.
At the same time, two further consignments hidden in music speakers were recovered from motor parks in Lagos.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, saying at least seven suspects connected to the seized cargoes have been arrested.
Babafemi said operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, intercepted a UK-inbound consignment concealing 27 parcels of Colos weighing 32.20kg. He said a real estate agent, Abideen Jide Salami, who arrived with a secret collection code relayed from his UK-based brother, was arrested on Wednesday, September 9, while attempting to retrieve the luggage.
He said a follow-up operation stemming from a second UK consignment led operatives to the designated recipient of another Colorado shipment weighing 12.25kg. According to Babafemi, the suspect, Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri, 44, claimed the consignment was sent to him by his brother in the UK.
Babafemi added that operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) intercepted a music speaker rigged with three packs of Colorado at a motor park in Maza Maza, Lagos, destined for Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and ultimately Liberia. He said a tour agent, Ifeanyi Obed Augustine, 41, and the consignment’s owner, Obasi Ugochukwu, 46, were arrested following a sting operation at a nearby eatery. In a separate incident at Iddo Park, he said a suspect, Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry, was arrested on Friday, September 11, while attempting to dispatch 2.1kg of Colorado to Kano.
In Delta State, Babafemi said two separate arrests at Ughelli and Asaba yielded a haul of pentazocine injection ampoules, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam (Hypnox), and MDMA (“Molly”), several of them concealed in music speakers. Two suspects, Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi, were arrested.
He said a raid in Sabon Gari, Kano, led to the arrest of a 20-year-old suspect, Saidu Adamu, found with 785,000 capsules of Pregabalin weighing 669.425kg, while a stop-and-search operation along the Zaria–Kano–Hadejia road netted 1,700 tablets of diazepam concealed inside loaves of bread, seized from 28-year-old Habibu Sabitu.
Babafemi further disclosed that 51-year-old Chinedu Uzor was arrested at Katako Market, Jos, Plateau State, with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.
The NDLEA spokesman said the agency sustained pressure on illicit cannabis cultivation with the destruction of 4,832.56 kilograms of skunk on farms at Usen Forest, Igwe-Oke Forest, and Ogboha Forest in Ovia South West, Owan East, and Owan West local government areas of Edo State, where a suspect, Sunday Segun, 39, was arrested on Friday, September 11.
In Ondo State, Babafemi said officers acting on credible intelligence raided a residence along Oke-Iya, Ijoka Road, Akure, on Wednesday, September 9, recovering 186kg of skunk concealed in the boot of a Toyota Avalon (marked ABJ 917 FV). He said the suspect, 58-year-old Paul Ogbuwala, had been planning to move the consignment to Jos for onward distribution.
He said a female suspect, Hannah Michael, was arrested at Gonin Gora, Kaduna, with 369.6kg of cannabis, while in Bayelsa State, four suspects — including a 70-year-old woman, Godwoman Gboriye — were arrested at Ovom, Yenagoa, with 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg. The others were named as Motombo Silver, 44; Pere Andrew, 39; and Keme Andrew, 43.
Babafemi said Commands and formations of the Agency across the country sustained their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities during the week. These included a WADA enlightenment lecture for students and staff of Mezube Islamiyya Academy, Tudun Wada, Kano; an advocacy visit to the management of Cross River State College of Health Technology, Calabar; and a visit by Rikkos traditional rulers to the NDLEA Academy in Jos to express gratitude for community access to the Agency’s clinic. He said the Zone 4 Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Emir of Keffi, Alhaji Shehu Chindo Yamusa III, in Nasarawa State.
While commending officers and men of DOGI, MMIA, and the Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa, and Kano Commands for the week’s operations, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), urged them and their colleagues nationwide to sustain the Agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
He charged them to continue shutting every pipeline used by drug cartels, whether at airports, seaports, land borders, or in the hinterland where cannabis is cultivated.
