By Adedapo Adesanya
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted fake $4.7 million cash in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi, who explained that operatives of the agency had in the early hours of Friday, February 18 stopped a consignment sent from Lagos to Abuja at the Abaji area of the nation’s capital.
According to Mr Babafemi, controlled delivery of the parcelled counterfeit notes totalling $4.7 million led to the arrest of a principal suspect, 52-year-old Abdulmumini Maikasuwa.
The seizure followed intelligence received by the FCT Command of the agency detailing the movement of the cash and the vehicle conveying it.
The NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Mr Mohammed Buba Marwa directed that both the cash and the suspect in custody be transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation.
In another development, a nursing mother, Mrs Rashidat Adebayo, has again been arrested in Offa, Kwara State with assorted drugs such as Tramadol, Swinol, Diazepam, and Pentazocine injection ampules.
This is coming barely three weeks after NDLEA operatives granted the 38-year-old mother administrative bail following her arrest for dealing in illicit drugs.
Similarly, in Adamawa State, two alleged drug dealers – Mr Sani Isa (aka Bilaz) and Mr Bala Yerima – were nabbed in Hong with 239 blocks of Cannabis Sativa weighing 209kg, just as operatives of the Bauchi state Command have intercepted a truck marked FFF 422 XB coming from Lagos to Maiduguri, at Azare, Bauchi.
A total of 164.8kg of Cannabis Sativa concealed in peak milk cartons was recovered from the truck.
Reacting to the arrest, Mr Marwa hailed the officers and men of the FCT Command for their vigilance and preventing counterfeit $4.7 million from going into the street.
He equally admonished them and their counterparts in Adamawa, Kwara, Bauchi, and others across the country not to rest on their oars.