By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested no fewer than 15 drug dealers during a week-long raid by its operatives across seven states in Nigeria.
The exercise, which began on Sunday, August 1, and lasted till Saturday, August 7, led to the recovery of a total of 8,268.2311 kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs.
The illicit drugs, including cocaine, heroin, tramadol, methamphetamine and skunk, were recovered in Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Enugu, Bauchi, Edo, and Anambra States.
The raid, aimed at mopping up illicit drugs in the affected states, is part of effective actions ordered by the Chairman/Chief Executive of the agency, Mr Mohamed Buba Marwa, against drug cartels across the country.
The agency said on Wednesday, August 4, it intercepted over 148.808kg of different variants of skunk, some of which were meant for students of Igbinendon University, Okada, and Edo State Polytechnic, Usen, from two suspected dealers; Sunday Ojodale Oguche, 21, and Endurance Ehigie, 23.
In addition, it also blocked 59.3 kilogrammes of a psychotropic substance, pentazocine in a bus from Jos, Plateau State to Bauchi with the courier arrested.
In Akure, the Ondo State capital, a 27-year-old Omokayode Adedayo was on Friday, August 6 arrested along Oda road, Akure South Local Government Area with a cocktail of illicit substances including cannabis Sativa, cocaine, methamphetamine, tramadol, swinol, and other designer drugs.
The previous day, Thursday, August 5, operatives of the Nigerian Army had intercepted 1,025 kilogrammes of cannabis in Toyota Sequoia numbered FST 169 BW and a Toyota Sienna with APP 918 FA as registration number, at a checkpoint in Isua Akoko, were two fake police officers; Stephen Sunday and Eze Ezenwa were also arrested with 575 k kilogrammes of cannabis being conveyed in a Sienna bus with a fake police registration number NPF 1651D.
The suspects and exhibits were promptly handed over to the Ondo State Command of the agency along with a cash exhibit of N148,300.
This was preceded by a raid carried out by operatives of the Ondo State command at Egbeta community, a border town between Ondo and Edo States, where a total of 6,332kilogrammes of cannabis Sativa were recovered and two suspects; Emeka Ossai and Raphael Henry arrested.
In Akwa Ibom State, raids in parts of the state led to the recovery of 64.903 kilogrammes of illicit drugs including 1. 2031 kilogrammes of crack cocaine from a 26-year-old Nwoye Ogbonna Solomon, the biggest cocaine seizure in the history of the state.
In Adamawa State, a suspected drug dealer, Mr Ikechukwu Onuh, was arrested at Jimeta, Yola on Thursday, August 5 with 14.400 kg of tramadol packaged as diclofenac to evade detection.
In Enugu, a total of 19.08 kilogrammes of cocaine and skunk was recovered from three suspects, including a 35-year-old handicapped lady, Ms Iyiogwe Chinenye, and 25-year-old Aja Chidi David. Different quantities of cocaine and heroin were also seized from a suspected 18-year-old drug dealer, Jude Chinedu, during raids at the Inland town area of Onitsha, Anambra State.
It was also disclosed that different quantities of tramadol, methamphetamine, and skunk going to the UK, Australia, New Zealand and UAE have been intercepted in two courier firms in Lagos by narcotic officers of the Directorate of Operation and General Investigation (DOGI) in the agency.
Modupe Gbadeyanka