The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has revealed that its operatives have made some crucial arrests in the past few days.
The NDLEA operatives arrested a notorious drug dealer, 45-year-old Godwin Emuneyin, who is physically challenged and uses his wheelchair as cover to deal in illicit substances such as methamphetamine and cannabis in Afuze, headquarters of Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State.
NDLEA said the suspect was arrested on Tuesday at his base in Afuze following credible intelligence, disclosing that a wooden box used to conceal illicit substances, including 18 pinches of methamphetamine, one block and 71 wraps of cannabis, was recovered from him.
This was announced in a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy.
Babafemi also announced that the NDLEA operatives, on Monday 6th November, recovered 42 bags of cannabis weighing 480kgs from a camp in Aviosi forest in Owan West LGA, while the Utese forest in Ovia North East LGA was also raided the same day with 231.5kgs of the substance recovered and a cannabis farm measuring 0.778960 hectares destroyed.
While in Adamawa State, he said operatives on patrol along Ngurore-Yola road on Thursday, 9th November, intercepted a Toyota Corolla car marked TZG 97 KY loaded with 30,899 Tramadol 225mg and 100mg pills concealed inside the body compartments of the car.
According to him, the driver found in possession of the drug exhibits, Sani Samaila (a.k.a Isa Male), 25, said he was bringing the consignment from Jalingo, Taraba State, to deliver in Yola, Adamawa State.
Babafemi further announced other interceptions and seizures by the anti-narcotic agency as he said: “The previous day, Wednesday 8th November, a suspect, Abdullahi Sani (a.k.a Danfulani) was arrested at Ngurore town in possession of some quantity of dried weeds suspected to be cannabis sativa in a white nylon. He thereafter led operatives on a follow up operation to the home of a drug lord, Alhaji Bubakari (a.k.a Dan Mamuda), an unrepentant ex-convict, where 19 blocks of compressed cannabis that weighed 13kgs were recovered.
“In Ogun state, not less than 18.875 tons of cannabis sativa on 7.55 hectares farmland were destroyed and another 100 jumbo bags weighing 1,100 kilograms of the psychoactive substance recovered at James town, Ogunmakin area of Obafemi Owode LGA on Monday 6th November, by a combined team of NDLEA operatives with officers and men of the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force, Federal Road Safety Corps, Defence Intelligence Agency and the State Security Network, Amotekun. Okpor Chukwuma and six other male suspects found on the farmland were arrested.
“While a commercial bus driver, Olayinka Sowo, 25, was arrested on Friday 10th November along Ibadan – Akure expressway over alleged conspiracy to transport 45.150kgs cannabis from Lagos to Osun state, NDLEA officers in Abuja on same day intercepted 7, 980 pills of diazepam and 567 bottles of codeine syrup in a commercial bus along Abaji-Abuja highway after which a follow up operation at Zuba motor park led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Ugwu Ikenna, 30.
“In Delta state, NDLEA operatives backed by men of the Nigerian Army stormed a remote forest in Umuchime community, Ndokwa West LGA where they destroyed 12.5 tons of cannabis on five hectares of farmland, and recovered 53.22kgs processed weeds and seeds of the substance. A suspect, Christopher Anim (alias Ogidi) was also arrested in the course of the operation. Two suspects: Amarachukwu Eugene, 32, and Abdulaziz Auwal, 25, were arrested in another operation by operatives in Kano with 202 blocks of cannabis weighing 113.1kgs on Tuesday 7th November.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers and men of the Edo, Ogun, Osun, Adamawa, Delta, and FCT Commands of the Agency for their balanced efforts in the past week.
Marwa applauded their counterparts across the country for intensifying their WADA advocacy lectures, thus creating parity between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.