No fewer than 2,601.5 kilograms of cannabis and 102,500 pills of pharmaceutical opioids were seized during interdiction operations across Plateau, Edo, Delta, Taraba, Kogi, Kano, Lagos and Adamawa state in the past week.
While 309kgs of cannabis were recovered from a Bauchi-bound Toyota Camry car marked KUJ 218 BS driven by a suspect, Godwin Ojo, 37, on Saturday 28th Jan. along Bauchi road, Jos, Plateau state, 718kgs of the same substance were seized in an uncompleted building in Sabongida-Ora, Owan West LGA, Edo state.
In Delta state, at least 250.3kgs of C/S were recovered from three suspects: Wilson Ejougo, 43; Okpor Charles Chuks, 33; and Grace Isaiah, 51, in raids across Abbi town, Ndokwa West LGA, and Asaba, the state capital. A suspect, Umar Halidu, 35, was arrested with 18kgs of cannabis at Mutum Biyu, Gassol LGA, Taraba State, while the trio of Ali Abdulwahab, 48; Bashir Musa, 31, and Ibrahim Shuaibu Abdullahi, 38, were nabbed with 532kgs of the psychoactive substance in their truck in Kogi state.
According to a statement released on Sunday by the Director, Media & Advocacy
Femi Babafemi, not less than 189 blocks of C/S weighing 131kgs were seized from a suspect, Shafi’u Abubakar, 29, in Mariri area of Kano and a total of 119.4kgs of the same substance recovered from four suspects in parts of Lagos state, while additional 523.8kgs were seized in a bus heading to Port Harcourt along Lagos-Ibadan expressway in the early hours of Sunday 22nd Jan. Four suspects: Okechukwu Umen; Lanre Adebayo Ismaila, 47; Adeshina Adigun Fatai, 50; and Emmanuel Omijeh, 42, have been arrested in connection with the seizure and three million naira (N3,000,000) offered as bribe kept as part of the exhibits for their prosecution. In Adamawa, 102,500 pills of opioids were recovered from the store of a mobile dealer at old park, Mubi in a joint operation with military personnel.
In his reaction to the special operation that led to the dismantling of the trans-border cartel, Gen. Marwa commended all the officers involved in the effort, stating that the feat is a confirmation that his warning to drug barons at a media briefing on 18th January is no fluke but a work plan well-grounded on determination and commitment of the officers and men of the Agency to rid Nigeria of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking. He charged personnel of various command.
