Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in a coordinated raids of seven states have seized a total of 8,268.2 kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs.
The states raided in a weeklong exercise include Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Enugu, Bauchi, Edo and Anambra, where drugs including cocaine, heroin, tramadol, methamphetamine and skunk among others were seized.
A statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi said not less than 15 drug dealers including a woman on wheelchair were arrested during the ‘offensive action’ operations, which began on Sunday 1st August and lasted till Saturday 7th August, 2021 in the seven states.
He said the raids were aimed at mopping up illicit drugs in the affected states followed intelligence and as part of the ongoing offensive action ordered against all drug cartels across the country
by the Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd).
Babafemi disclosed that the bulk of the seized drugs were recovered from Ondo and its neighbour Edo states.
He said in Akure, the Ondo state capital, a 27-year-old Omokayode Adedayo was on Friday 6th August arrested along Oda road, Akure South Local Government Area with a cocktail of illicit substances including cannabis sativa, cocaine, methamphetamine, tramadol, swinol, and designer drug.
He said earlier, the previous day, Thursday 5th August, men of the Nigerian Army had intercepted 1,025 kilogrammes of cannabis in Toyota Sequoia numbered FST 169 BW and a Toyota Sienna with APP 918 FA as registration number, at a checkpoint in Isua Akoko, where two fake police officers; Stephen Sunday and Eze Ezenwa were also arrested with 575kg of cannabis being conveyed in a Sienna bus with a fake police registration number NPF 1651D.
He said the suspects and exhibits were promptly handed over to the Ondo state command of the agency along with a cash exhibit of N148,300.
Babafemi said this was preceded by a raid carried out by operatives of the Ondo state command at Egbeta community, a border town between Ondo and Edo states, where a total of 6,332 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa were recovered and two suspects; Emeka Ossai and Raphael Henry arrested.
In Akwa Ibom state, according to Babafemi, raids in parts of the state led to the recovery of 64.9 kilogrammes of illicit drugs including 1.2 kilogrammes crack cocaine from a 26-year-old Nwoye Solomon, the biggest cocaine seizure in the history of the state.
In Adamawa state, he said, a drug dealer, Ikechukwu Onuh was arrested at Jimeta, Yola on Thursday 5th August with 14.4 kilogrammes of tramadol packaged as diclofenac to evade detection.
In Enugu, he revealed that, a total of 19.1 kilogrammes of cocaine and skunk was recovered from three suspects including a 35-year-old cripple, Iyiogwe Chinenye and 25-year-old Aja David, adding that different quantities of cocaine and heroin were also seized from a 18-year-old drug dealer, Jude Chinedu during raids at Inland town area of Onitsha, Anambra state.
He added that 59.3 kilogrammes of a psychotropic substance, pentazocine was intercepted in a bus going from Jos, Plateau state to Bauchi with the courier arrested, over 148.8 kilogrammes of different variants of skunk, some of which were meant for students of Igbinendon University, Okada and Edo State Polytechnic, Usen, were recovered from two dealers; Sunday Oguche, 21, and Endurance Ehigie, 23 on Wednesday 4th August.
In another development, different quantities of tramadol, methamphetamine and skunk going to the UK, Australia, New Zealand and UAE have been intercepted in two courier firms in Lagos by narcotic officers of the Directorate of Operation and General Investigation, DOGI, in the agency.
Reacting to the outcome of the raids, Marwa commended the officers and men of the seven state commands and DOGI for their diligence and charged them not to rest on their oars.
He said the nationwide offensive action would continue across all commands until the last gramme of illicit drug is retrieved from the street.