On Sunday, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced the destruction of a 16-hectare cannabis farm in Ekiti state and the interception of 4,000 kilograms of various illicit drugs in multiple operations across Nigeria.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, shared this information via the agency’s website.
According to the statement, between Monday and Wednesday, NDLEA operatives conducted a major operation in Ijesha Isu-Ekiti, Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti state, where they discovered and incinerated a cannabis farm covering 16 hectares, eliminating approximately 40 tons of cannabis plants.
Furthermore, on Friday along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road, NDLEA operatives intercepted two Toyota Sienna buses carrying 1,194 cylinders of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, with a total weight of 2,547.2 kilograms destined for delivery in Abuja.
Two suspects, Onyebuchi Ikpozu and Kenneth Igwe, who were transporting the cargo to the nation’s capital, have been apprehended.
One of the Sienna buses, with the license plate KTU 582 HV, contained 99 cartons containing 594 cylinders weighing 1,267.200 kilograms, while the second bus, with registration number FKJ 329 YA, was carrying 100 cartons of the substance with 600 cylinders weighing 1,280 kilograms.
In a follow-up operation in Abuja, a 48-year-old woman named Mrs. Ugo Eluba was arrested with 2,400 ampules of pentazocine injection and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5.
The NDLEA also intercepted a trailer with the registration number LSR 343 XW, concealing 959 kilograms of skunk inside Maggi cartons meant for distribution in Sokoto and Abuja.
Two suspects, Shuaibu Yusif and Abubakar Hussaini, were arrested for illegal possession of 89.1 kilograms of skunks in Jigawa.
In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), NDLEA operatives intercepted 977 kilograms of skunk in a trailer marked LSR 343 XW on September 20th.
While 959 kilograms of the substance were intended for distribution in Sokoto state, the rest was destined for Gwagwalada.
Two suspects, Auwal Mohammed and Abdullahi Abubakar, were arrested in connection with the seizure, and two other suspects, Mutari Abdulazeez and Ayuba Madaki, were also arrested on September 23rd in the FCT with various quantities of methamphetamine, cannabis, and 13,930 pills of tramadol.
Additionally, Shuaibu Yusif and Abubakar Hussaini were apprehended on September 23rd with 89.1 kilograms of skunk along the Kano-Hadejia road in Jigawa state during a stop and search patrol by NDLEA operatives.
In separate operations in Kaduna and Lagos, the agency seized 6,000 ampules of pentazocine injection, with the suspected owner of the consignment arrested in Bauchi.
Furthermore, 183 kilograms of Ghana Loud, a type of cannabis, were discovered hidden in the body compartments of a bus in Lagos.
On Monday, September 18th, along the Abuja-Forest road in Kaduna, NDLEA recovered 6,000 ampules of pentazocine injection from a suspect named Usman Musa Sidi, who 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, with at least 2.58 kilograms of Diazepam and 36.55 kilograms of pentazocine injection recovered from his residence.
Two other suspects, Inuwa Nuhu and Isiyaku Dahiru Sani, were also arrested the same day in connection with the seizure of 49 blocks of cannabis sativa concealed in a black sack weighing 26 kilograms in a commercial vehicle traveling from Ogere, Ogun state, to Kano.
In another incident, a total of 183 kilograms of Ghana Loud, a specific strain of cannabis, were found hidden in the body compartments of a J5 bus intercepted in Lagos on Wednesday, September 20th.
In Sokoto, on Tuesday, September 19th, NDLEA operatives arrested one Charles Okeke, aged 44, with 473 bottles of codeine syrup in the Unguwar Kosai area of Sokoto.
Additionally, in Edo state, 365 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 258 kilograms were recovered from a Toyota Camry car with the license plate KTU 886 EZ at Igarra, Akoko Edo LGA.
