NDLEA confiscates large amounts of cannabis and drugs in seven states

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized large amounts of cannabis and other illegal drugs in different operations across seven states. The agency shared this news on Sunday.

Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, explained in a statement that these operations were carried out in Kano, Plateau, Edo, Ondo, Kaduna, Bayelsa, and Delta states.

In Edo, the agency reported that its officers destroyed 4,832.56kg of cannabis, also known as skunk. This was found on farms in Usen, Igwe-Oke, and Ogboha forests. These farms are located in Ovia South West, Owan East, and Owan West Local Government Areas. A 39-year-old man named Sunday Segun was arrested during the operation on Friday.

In Bayelsa, four people were arrested in Ovom, Yenagoa after officers recovered 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg. The suspects were identified as Godwoman Gboriye, 70; Motombo Silver, 44; Pere Andrew, 39; and Keme Andrew, 43.

In Kano, operatives raided a place in Sabon Gari and arrested 20-year-old Saidu Adamu with 785,000 capsules of Pregabalin weighing 669.425kg. Another suspect, Habibu Sabitu, 28, was caught after NDLEA officers stopped his vehicle along the Zaria-Kano-Hadejia road. They found 1,700 tablets of diazepam hidden inside loaves of bread in his vehicle.

More Drug Seizures

In Plateau State, officers recovered 157,100 capsules of tramadol from Chinedu Uzor, 51, at Katako Market in Jos. In Ondo State, NDLEA operatives acted on intelligence and raided a house along Oke-Iya, Ijoka Road, Akure, on Wednesday. They found 186kg of cannabis in the boot of a Toyota Avalon. The suspect was identified as 58-year-old Paul Ogbuwala, who was allegedly preparing to take the drugs to Jos for distribution.

In Kaduna, operatives arrested Hannah Michael at Gonin Gora with 369.6kg of cannabis. In Delta State, separate operations in Ughelli and Asaba led to the recovery of pentazocine injections, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam, also known as Hypnox, and MDMA, commonly called Molly. Some of these drugs were hidden inside music speakers, and two suspects, Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi, were arrested.

These latest seizures come amid a series of major drug interceptions reported by the agency in recent weeks. Last week, the NDLEA said it seized 966,200 tablets of Tramadol worth over N1.1 billion at the Lagos airport. The agency also intercepted 2,145kg of cannabis hidden in a fuel tanker in Ondo State.

During the week, the NDLEA mentioned that its commands conducted drug-abuse awareness programs in schools, churches, workplaces, and communities. NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa praised the operatives involved in these operations. He urged them to continue disrupting drug trafficking routes and cannabis farms and to keep watch over these routes through airports, seaports, land borders, and areas where cannabis is grown.