By Adedapo Adesanya
Two freight agents have been arrested by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, over attempts to smuggle 26.20kg cannabis concealed in cereal packs through the SAHCO shed for export to Dubai, UAE.
The consignment was abandoned at the shed before the airport security transferred it to NDLEA. Further investigation by the agency led to the arrest of Mr Olatunbosun Damilola Abimbola, 34, who works at Ashadox Logistics Services, a cargo company, on Friday, September 23.
He reportedly confessed to the crime but stated that he acted on the instructions of his Managing Director, Mr Oloyede Shakiru Abiola, who was promptly arrested.
The 40-year-old indigene of Ibadan West Local Government Area of Oyo State stated that due to the strict security measures put in place by the NDLEA, he was forced to abandon the cargo to avoid being detected.
In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi, also disclosed that a 75-year-old grandfather, Mr Usman Bokina Bajama (alias Clemen), was apprehended by the agency as part of 22 suspects arrested in operations across seven states, during which over one million capsules of banned new psychoactive substances were seized.
According to him, over one million bottles/capsules of banned psychoactive substances, Akuskura and tramadol, as well as 2,536 kilograms of cannabis, were taken hold of, adding that over 10 hectares of farms where these substances were being cultivated have been destroyed in Edo and Adamawa.
The septuagenarian was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday, September 20, at Anguwan Sate, Mararraban Tola, Mayo Belwa council area of Adamawa, where he had a cannabis plantation from where 49kg of the illicit substance was recovered.
Meanwhile, in Kwara, at least 19,878 bottles of Akuskura were intercepted by NDLEA operatives along the Ilorin-Jebba highway on Wednesday, September 21 and two suspects: Mr Oladokun Oluwaseun, 49, and Mr Ibrahim Jimoh, 27, arrested.
They claimed the consignment packed in 35 jumbo sacks was loaded in Ibadan, Oyo state, and meant for distribution in Jos, Plateau state. Earlier, two suspects: Mr Ukoro Ifeanyi, 46, and Mr Idowu Toyosi, 20, were arrested with 2,290 capsules of tramadol and 100 bottles of codeine-based syrup at Mararaba park, Ilorin.
According to the NDLEA spokesman, the drugs were brought in from Onitsha, Anambra state.
NDLEA operatives in Lagos, while acting on credible intelligence, intercepted a Volvo truck loaded with 2,146 kilograms of cannabis in the Sangotedo area of Ajah.
Three suspects, Mr Abdulazeez Rasheed; Mr Afeez Raheem and Mr Moshood Suleiman, were arrested.
At least 979,119 capsules of expired pregabalin weighing 733kg were recovered from Musbahu Ya’u, 28, and five others in the Dansarai area of Kano, while in Enugu, 197.8kg of cannabis was recovered in a store at new market, Enugu on Tuesday, September 20.
Similarly, 117.7kg of the psychoactive substance was intercepted along the Okene-Abuja expressway in a truck coming from Lagos to Abuja.
In Edo State, six cannabis farmers were arrested when NDLEA operatives stormed their farms at Chigbite, Utese forest in Ovia North East LGA and Ekudo forest, Uhunmonde LGA, where over 10 hectares of cannabis plantation were destroyed and more than 193kg of the processed illicit substance seized.
Those arrested include Mr David Hanson; Mr Ufuoma Progress; Mr Marvelous Armstrong; Mr Marvelous Efe; Mr Joshua Abubakar and Mr Elijah Abubakar.
