SUNRISE NEWS, Lokoja, July 17, 2020 Operatives of the Kogi State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on Friday, intercepted substances suspected to be cocaine and other banned substances being ferried to insurgents in the North East.
The operatives reportedly made four separate vehicular interception and seizures along the Lokoja-Abuja highway, within the spate of five hours.
Parading the suspects in the capital, the state Commandant of the NDLEA, Mr. Alfred Adewumi, said that his men on a motorised patrol were able to intercept and seize the illicit drugs, including cocaine and cannabis sativa, otherwise called India hemp, all of which weighed about 1,120.36kg.
He explained that anti-narcotic agents took much time to dismantle the cleverly concealed drugs, saying that some of them were packaged inside charcoal sacks at the back of an open articulated vehicle, while some were “neatly concealed inside grains and other hidden areas inside of the vehicles.”
He said that one the drivers in attempt to escape in his vehicle, hit and damaged one of the patrol vans and injured some of the operatives, while another driver in a blue Nissan car fled into the bush, and later abandoned the car after a hot chase.
While expressing his displeasure over the rate of trafficking in illicit drugs in the state, he said that between January and June this year, a total of 7,500kg of assorted banned drugs were intercepted by his command, and raised concernnthat most of the illicit drugs may find their way to insurgents terrorising the country in the North East.
He appealed to members of the public to assist the command with useful information that can lead to the arrest of those behind illicit drug trade in the state, saying that the command is ever ready to put an end to the use of illicit drugs in the state and couriers passing through the state.
The suspects, including the drivers arrested with weed suspected to be India hemp include Murtala Mohammed, Mohammed Bashir, Mohammed Sani, Ukasha Musa,
Abba Mukhtar. While those arrested with psychotropic drugs (cocaine) were withheld for further investigation.
Speaking with newsmen one of the suspects, Mohamed Bashir, who said he was selling the drugs in one of the states in the North East, confessed to committing the crime and pleaded for leniency.