The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized four tons of illicit and controlled drugs across seven states in just one week, according to its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi.
The intercepted drugs include nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, skunk, codeine syrup, methamphetamine, and Tramadol. These seizures were made during interdiction operations in Lagos, Kogi, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Jigawa, Kaduna, Sokoto, and Edo states.
Babafemi provided details of some of the seizures, noting that on September 22, 1,194 cylinders of laughing gas, weighing a total of 2,547.2 kilograms, were intercepted in Toyota Sienna buses along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja Expressway. Two suspects, Onyebuchi Ikpozu and Kenneth Igwe, who were transporting the consignment to Abuja for distribution, were apprehended.
He further explained that one of the Toyota Sienna buses (KTU 582 HV) was carrying 99 cartons containing 594 cylinders weighing 1,267.200 kilograms, while the other bus (FKJ 329 YA) was loaded with 100 cartons and 600 cylinders weighing 1,280 kilograms.
In addition, a 48-year-old woman named Mrs. Ugo Eluba was arrested in Abuja in a follow-up operation after 2,400 ampules of pentazocine injection and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5, which were intercepted in Kogi State, were traced back to her.
Babafemi also reported that in the FCT, 977 kilograms of skunk were intercepted on September 20 in a trailer marked LSR 343 XW, which was carrying cartons of a seasoning brand. The skunk consignment had been loaded onto the truck at Ipele junction in Ondo State. Additionally, 959 kilograms of the substance were intended for distribution in Sokoto State, while the remainder was destined for Gwagwalada.
In connection with the seizures, two suspects named Auwal Mohammed and Abdullahi Abubakar have been arrested.
Additionally, on September 23, two suspects, Mutari Abdulazeez (31) and Ayuba Madaki (28), were apprehended in Zuba, FCT. They were found in possession of varying quantities of methamphetamine, cannabis, and 13,930 pills of Tramadol.
During a stop and search operation along Kano-Hadejia road in Jigawa on September 23, two suspects, Shuaibu Yusif (27) and Abubakar Hussaini (20), were arrested with 89.1 kilograms of skunk.
On September 18, 6,000 ampules of pentazocine injection were recovered from a suspect named Usman Sidi (35) along Abuja-Forest Road in Kaduna State while he was en route to Bauchi State. A follow-up operation in Bauchi led to the arrest of the actual owner of the consignment, Dominic Chukwuma (35), on September 19. In Chukwuma’s house, 2.58 kilograms of Diazepam and 36.55 kilograms of pentazocine injection were also discovered.
Furthermore, two other suspects, Inuwa Nuhu and Isiyaku Dahiru Sani, were arrested on the same day in connection with the seizure of 49 blocks of cannabis sativa concealed in a black sack weighing 26 kilograms. This contraband was found in a commercial vehicle traveling from Ogere in Ogun State to Kano State.
Additionally, 183 kilograms of Ghanaian Loud, a strain of cannabis, were seized from the body compartments of a J5 bus intercepted in Lagos on September 20.
In Sokoto State, Charles Okeke (44) was arrested on September 19 with 473 bottles of codeine syrup in the Unguwar Kosai area.
Lastly, in Edo State, a total of 365 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 258 kilograms were recovered from a Toyota Camry car marked KTU 886 EZ in Igarra, Akoko Edo LGA.
Furthermore, in a large-scale operation conducted from September 11 to September 13 in a dense forest in Ijesha Isu-Ekiti, Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, the NDLEA destroyed 40 tons of cannabis plants covering 16 hectares of farmland.
