From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has set ablaze a large warehouse containing 231 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 3,003 kilograms (over three tons), located in Iwe forest in the Iwe community, Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State.
The operation involving hundreds of well-armed NDLEA operatives, in the early hours last Tuesday, followed intelligence that a wanted drug kingpin had stored tons of the psychotropic substance in the forest, ready for distribution to other parts of the country.
Meanwhile, not less than 76.9 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, were recovered from four used vehicles in a container marked MSDU6686346 from Canada, at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State, between Thursday, June 1 and Friday, June 2, during a joint inspection of the shipment with men of the Nigeria Customs Service.
A statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, revealed that the request for 100 percent examination of the shipment followed earlier intelligence received by the agency on the container.
In Kano State, two suspects: Ma’aruf Rabiu and Abubakar Mustapha, were arrested last Tuesday, along Zaria-Kano road, with 260 blocks of cannabis weighing 139.4kg, while Auwal Ibrahim was nabbed with 38kg of the same substance the following day, Wednesday, May 31, along Kaduna-Abuja road, same day 35-year-old female suspect, Bilkisu Isiya, was arrested at Birnin Yero, Kaduna, in possession of 5.6kg cannabis.
In Borno State, two suspects: Abubakar Usman (aka Alhaji Mai Kero) and Adamu Yusuf were arrested at Bargu village, Shani LGA, on Saturday, with 165 blocks of skunk weighing 140.7kg. Their arrest was effected deep inside a fluid insurgents environment with military support. A female suspect, Hauwa Ibrahim, 25, was also nabbed in the same village with 6.4kg of the psychoactive substance, while another suspect, Alhaji Abubakar, 27, was arrested at Njimtilo checkpoint with 4,200 ampoules of pentazocine injection and different quantities of D5 and exol-5 tablets.
A 30-year-old suspect, Iroko Wasiu, was arrested at a drug joint at Sabo Aba-Owolowo, along Oyo-Ogbomoso expressway, last Tuesday, and 31.2kg of cannabis recovered from him, while two suspects: Deji Adelabu, 35, and Mutiu Salau, 37, were nabbed the following day, Wednesday, May 31, in the Sabo area, along Oyo-Ogbomoso road and the Awuro Dada area in Orire local government area of Oyo State with a total of 8kg cannabis recovered from them.
While commending the officers and men of the Edo, Onne Ports, Kano, Kaduna, Borno and Oyo state Commands for their commitment and synergy with other law enforcement agencies in their areas of responsibility, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd) urged them and their compatriots across the country to intensify the offensive action against drug cartels, while ensuring a balance with drug demand reduction efforts.