By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said no less than 37.5 kilograms of illicit drug consignments were intercepted in the past week.
In a Sunday statement, the agency said it arrested 11 suspects, including a 14-year-old, in interdiction operations with the seizure of almost four tons of skunk in Kaduna, Kano and Lagos states.
At the Lagos airport, a freight agent, Ogunsina Damilare, was arrested on Friday, January 6, following a bid to export 1.5 kilograms of skunk hidden in foodstuffs to Dubai, UAE, through the SAHCO export shed of the MMIA.
Meanwhile, a similar attempt to ship 11.5kgs of the same substance to the United Kingdom was frustrated when the consignment concealed in a giant wooden sculpture was intercepted by NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations (DOGI) at a courier company in Lagos.
It was noted that the latter emanated from Ghana, with London as its destination.
At the Tincan port in Lagos, a shipment of 24.5 kilograms cannabis indica to Nigeria from Montreal, Canada, was intercepted by operatives while an N8 million bribe offered NDLEA officers by the importer has been secured in an account for the prosecution of the case.
While the suspect, Mr Cedrick Maduweke, is still at large, one of his accomplices, Mr Steve Isioma Adigwe, has been arrested. The consignment was hidden in a used Toyota Sienna vehicle that arrived at the port along with three other cars in a container marked MSMU 5082733.
A total of 3, 672 kilograms of cannabis Sativa were recovered from two locations and five suspects were arrested in Kaduna during separate raid operations.
Arrested at a warehouse at Rido village on Wednesday, January 3, include Mr Edward Emmanuel, and Miracle Madu, with 298 bags of C/S weighing 3,576kgs. Investigations revealed that the consignment was moved from a southern state to Kaduna in a petroleum product-bearing truck.
Also, two other suspects, Mr Sunday Bassey, 29 and Miss Jessica Daniel, 14, were nabbed with 96kgs of the same substance at the Gonin Gora area of the state, while Sanusi Isah, 30, was arrested on Saturday, January 7, at Giwa area with over 12,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg and Diazepam.
In Kano, NDLEA operatives on Saturday 7th Jan. intercepted Kabiru Abdulhamid, 40, with 119 blocks of C/S weighing 73kgs at the Semugu area, while a total of 28,400 tablets of tramadol and over 230kgs of cannabis were seized in raid operations in Festac town and Lagos Island areas of Lagos state.
Some of the suspects arrested in the Lagos raids include Miss Rukayyat Eshinlokun, Miss Pelumi Alejo and Mr Banna Maina, who specialize in the distribution of illicit drugs disguised as a dispatch rider.
Meanwhile, in Imo state, a suspect, Mr Amechi Moses, was arrested in a follow-up operation on Friday, January 6, following the interception of 29, 800 tablets of Tramadol 225mg in a commercial bus along Owerri – Onitsha road going to Aba in Abia state.
Modupe Gbadeyanka