1,194 cylinders of laughing gas, otherwise known as nitrous oxide, weighing 2,547.2 kilograms were seized by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja Expressway, last Friday.
Two suspects, Onyebuchi Ikpozu and Kenneth Igwe, who were taking the consignments to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for distribution have been arrested and taken into custody.
The consignments of laughing gas were conveyed in two Toyota Sienna buses, included one marked KTU 582 HV, conveying 99 cartons containing 594 cylinders weighing 1,267.200kgs.
The second bus with registration number FKJ 329 YA conveyed 100 cartons of the substance with 600 cylinders weighing 1,280kgs.
These were part of the four tons of consignments of laughing gas, skunk, codeine syrup, methamphetamine and tramadol intercepted by NDLEA operatives during interdiction operations in Lagos, Kogi, FCT, Jigawa, Kaduna, Sokoto and Edo states.
NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, made the disclosure in a press release detailing the activities of the agency in the last one week.
A 48-year-old woman, Mrs. Ugo Eluba, was also arrested in Abuja in a follow up operation after 2,400 ampules of pentazocine injection and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 intercepted in Kogi State were traced to her.
In the FCT, operatives, last Wednesday, intercepted 977 kilograms of skunk in a trailer marked LSR 343 XW, bearing cartons of maggi.
959kgs of skunk consignment, loaded into the truck at Ipele Junction in Ondo State, were meant for distribution in Sokoto State and the rest was to be taken to Gwagwalada.
Two suspects -Auwal Mohammed and Abdullahi Abubakar- have been arrested in connection with the seizure.
Two suspects: Mutari Abdulazeez (31) and Ayuba Madaki (28), were arrested on Saturday at the Zuba area of the FCT with different quantities of methamphetamine, cannabis and 13, 930 pills of tramadol.
In the same vein, Shuaibu Yusif (27) and Abubakar Hussaini (20) were nabbed on Saturday with 89.1kgs of skunk along Kano-Hadejia Road, Jigawa State during a stop-and-search patrol by NDLEA operatives.
No fewer than 6,000 ampules of pentazocine injection were recovered from a suspect, Usman Musa Sidi (35), last Monday, along Abuja – Forest Road, Kaduna while on his way to Bauchi State.
A follow up operation in Bauchi led to the arrest of the actual owner of the consignment, Dominic Chukwuma (35), last Tuesday.
Chukwuma was caught with at least 2.58kgs of Diazepam and 36.55kgs of pentazocine injection recovered from his home.
Two suspects, Inuwa Nuhu and Isiyaku Dahiru Sani, were also arrested same Tuesday in connection with the seizure of 49 blocks of cannabis sativa.
The illicit drug was concealed in a black sack weighing 26kgs in a commercial vehicle coming from Ogere, Ogun State to Kano.
A total of 183kgs of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis, were recovered from body compartments of a J5 bus intercepted in Lagos, last Wednesday.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives arrested one Charles Okeke, 44, with 473 bottles of codeine syrup at Unguwar Kosai area of Sokoto, last Tuesday.
365 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 258kgs were recovered from a Toyota Camry car marked KTU 886 EZ at Igarra, Akoko Edo Local Government Area, Edo State.
In a massive operation between last Monday and Wednesday, NDLEA operatives stormed thick forests in Ijesa Isu-Ekiti, Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
40 tons (40,000 kilograms) of cannabis plants covering 16 hectares of farmland were destroyed during the operation.
Meanwhile, NDLEA commands have continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) across the country with sensitisation lectures and advocacy visits.
The advocacy were taken to worship centres, schools, workplaces, palaces of traditional rulers and communities all through the week.
These include WADA sensitisation lecture at Madarasatu Tarbiyyatil Aulad Islamiyyah Izala Mosque, Sabon Gari Wudil, Wudil Local Government Area, Kano;
WADA sensitisation town hall meeting with principals of secondary schools in Kaduna North and South local government areas, organised by the Zone J command of the agency;
WADA advocacy visit to the palace of Igwe Emmanuel Ugwu, traditional ruler of Ibagwa Nike, Enugu State and;
WADA sensitisation lecture for students of the Oyo State College of Science and Health Technology, Ibadan, among others.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers and men of the Lagos, FCT, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kogi, Sokoto and Edo commands for the arrests and seizures of the past week.
He also applauded their compatriots in all the commands across the country for intensifying the WADA sensitisation lectures and advocacy messages to every part of their areas of responsibility.
