Published By Seyi Babalola
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have seized over 24,311 kilogrammes of heroin, codeine as well as Arizona and Colorado variants of cannabis in fresh clampdown at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja and the Tincan seaport, Apapa, all in the nation’s foremost commercial city, Lagos.
The latest seizure is barely a week after the a massive N6 billion worth of Amphetamine, popularly known as jihadists’ drug was intercepted at the Apapa port in Lagos by the same agency.
A statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi said the first seizure came on Friday 3rd September, 2021 at the SAHCO export shed of the MMIA where two consignments containing 10.350 kilogrammes heroin and 25.2 kilogrammes cannabis from South Africa were intercepted.
He said 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 Shyllon Street, in Ilupeju area of the state.
He said at the Tincan seaport, Apapa, narcotic officers intercepted a 40 feet container loaded with 22,590 kilogrammes of Barcadin Codeine syrup on Monday 6th September following intelligence received from international partners on the container since May 2021.
He added that the container was also found to include 4,020.03 kilogrammes of analgesic tablets and 47 cartons of insulated hot pots used to conceal the illicit drugs, all imported from India.
He noted that on Friday 10th September, a consignment of Colorado weighing 17.5 kilogrammes and hidden inside a Grand Caravan Dodge vehicle shipped in a 40 feet container from Montreal, Canada, was also intercepted and seized at the Tincan port.
Meanwhile, a 20-year-old graduate, Miss Bee Okoro has been arrested in Abuja for producing and selling drugged candies and cookies, also arrested is a 27-year-old dispatch rider, Idewo Raimi who handles door-to-door delivery for her.
According to Babafemi, the suspects, who were arrested at Garki Area 11 on Friday 10th Sept, with a number of their drugged products and 400 grammes of Loud and Arizona, confessed they have been in the drug business for over a year.
Babafemi disclosed that successes were also made across the states, in Edo state, a total of 1,425.2 kilogrammes 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 10.3 kilogrammes Tramadol and 60.5 kilogrammes Exol-6. The previous day, Thursday 5th September, one ThankGod Danladi was arrested at Tudun Wada area of Jalingo, the Taraba state capital with 44.2 kilogrammes of cannabis.
While in Kwara state on Tuesday 7th September, operatives of NDLEA 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 grammes of crack cocaine.
Babafemi said her latest arrest along Specialist Hospital Road, Alagbado, Ilorin, followed intelligence that she has resumed sale of crack cocaine in Ilorin metropolis.
He said this time around, she devised another means of delivering drugs along the road to known customers who contact her via telephone calls.
In Gombe state, he said raids across the state between Wednesday 1st September and Friday 10th September led to the arrest of at least nine drug dealers from who assorted illicit drugs weighing over 150 kilogrammes were recovered. One of such was the interception of a DAF truck loaded with 128 kilogrammes of psychotropic substances coming from Onitsha, Anambra state along Gombe-Yola road.
Meanwhile, in his reaction to the latest drug busts at the Lagos airport, Tincan seaport and across the FCT, Edo, Kaduna, Taraba, Kwara and Gombe states, Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. 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 affirmed 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 new NDLEA.