A drug kingpin wanted for attempts to ship illicit drug consignments to the United Kingdom tops the list of arrests made by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The arrests were made through interdiction operations that led to the seizure of four tons of illicit substances in the past week.
This was contained in a press release by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, stating the activities of the agency in the past week.
The kingpin, Obiorah Chigozie Samuel, has been on the wanted list of the Agency since 15 September 2023.
Then, a consignment of 1.500kg skunk, linked to the kingpin and concealed in flour going to London, UK was intercepted at the SAHCO export shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.
Also Nworah Adaugo Precious, the freight agent of kingpin, Obiorah Chigozie Samuel, was then arrested.
Convinced that the 1.500kg consignment had sailed through, the kingpin, Obiorah, walked into the agency’s dragnet, last Thursday.
Obiorah, on that day, personally brought another tranche of 2.00kg concealed in cartons to the airport for shipment to the UK.
In his interview, the wanted kingpin claimed he was into shoes sales in Lagos before venturing into the illicit drug business.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Federal Capital Territory Command of the agency, last Friday, intercepted a container truck.
The truck, with registration number BD G41 XM, coming from Lagos to Kano, was intercepted at the Gwagwalada Area of the FCT.
1,188 kilograms of skunk loaded at Owo, Ondo State and hidden under cartons of tooth paste were recovered from the truck and its driver, Amafan Fattison (28), was arrested.
In the same vein, NDLEA officers in Bayelsa State, last Wednesday, seized 432kgs of the same substance from an abandoned J5 bus along Saipem Road, Opolo, Yenagoa.
“The vehicle was equally recovered from the scene for further investigation,” it was stated in the press release.
A septuagenarian grandpa, Ado Mai Unguwa, 70, was arrested, last Saturday, with 143.2kgs skunk in Dindere Village, Tofa Local Government Area, Kano State.
NDLEA operatives in Enugu, also on the same day, recovered 110.6kgs of same substance from a locked-up shop at Aria New Market.
Operatives in Lagos, also last Saturday, stormed the notorious Idi-Oro drug enclave in Mushin where they seized 212.5kgs of cannabis sativa belonging to a wanted drug lord.
This was as NDLEA officers in Kwara State recovered 104kgs of skunk from a Toyota Camry car in Offa area of the state.
A Chadian, Mohammed Ibrahim (25), was nabbed at Mafa Check Point, Borno State with 11.8kgs of same substance, last Monday.
Plateau State Police Command, in the spirit of inter-agency collaboration transferred four suspects: Yusuf Akim; Frank Gah; Jackson Ejeh and Joseph Utsu to NDLEA.
1,978kgs cannabis recovered from the four suspects were also handed over to the state command of the anti-narcotics agency.
NDLEA operatives in Cross River State, last Monday, seized 40,000 ampules of pentazocine injection from two suspects: Fajulugbe Adeshola Temitayo (35) and Nnaorji Agwe Solomon (54).
The two suspects were arrested by the operatives of the anti-narcotics agency at Mobil by MCC Road, Calabar.
Also in Kogi State, NDLEA officers, last Wednesday, arrested a suspect, Ifeanyi Odoh, 25, with 59,867 pills of opioids including Tramadol and 4.03kgs cannabis sativa at Idah Area of the state.
War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy activities equally continued across the country in the past week.
Some of the activities included: WADA advocacy visit to the Director/CEO, Nigeria French Village, Badagry, Lagos;
Professor Lateef Babatunde Ayeleru by the Seme Special Area command of NDLEA;
WADA sensitisation lecture at Ar-Rahmania College of Health Sciences, Minna, Niger State; WADA advocacy lecture at Pentecostal Academy, Aba, Abia State and;
WADA sensitisation lecture for students and staff of School of Nursing, Eket, Akwa Ibom state among others.
Chairman/CEO of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), has commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, FCT, Bayelsa, Borno, Kogi, Kwara, Cross River, Borno and Enugu commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week.
He equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for ensuring a fair balance in their efforts at drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction.
