Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two church officials and two female accomplices linked with a fentanyl cartel operating from Warri, Delta State.
No fewer than 4,560 kilograms of skunk were also seized by the anti-narcotics agency in interdiction operations in Lagos, Adamawa, Ogun and Osun states.
The revelations were contained in a release, today, by the Director of Media and Advocacy of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi.
The church which officials were arrested was identified as Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministries (aka Mercy City Church), Warri, Delta State.
The arrested two church officials, Adewale Abayomi Ayeni (39) and Ebipakebina Appeal (41), linked to two intercepted consignments of illicit drug, were arrested in Warri.
According to NDLEA, Ayeni is one of those managing the prayer call centre of the church, while Ebipakebina is in charge of movement of international guests from the airport to the church.
Two female accomplices of the two church officials were also arrested in Warri in the course of investigating the intercepted shipments.
They are Naomi David (28), who is a staff of United Parcel Services (UPS), and Stacy Njideka, also known as Nkiruka (27), who is a business associate of Ayeni.
Babafemi stated that the arrest of the two church officials and their two female accomplices were effected barely one month after two members of another syndicate were arrested.
“The bust of the fentanyl cartel, operating from Warri, Delta State, is coming barely a month after two members of another syndicate, Odoh Collins Oguejiofor and Oliver Chigozie Uzoma, were arrested.
“Oguejiofor and Uzoma were arrested at Ogbogwu Market, Onitsha Head Bridge, Onitsha South Local Government Area, Anambra State.
“This was after months of intelligence-led investigation of the syndicates behind the dangerous drug, which is 100 times more potent than heroin.
“It was said to be currently responsible for over 70 per cent of overdose deaths as well as a major contributor to fatal and non-fatal overdoses in the United States,” Babafemi stated.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives, last Wednesday, intercepted a Toyota Hilux vehicle marked EPE 863 XD along Ngurore-Mayo Belwa Road, Adamawa State.
A search of the van with two occupants: Kelvin Efe (51) and Christian Ogaga (42), revealed that concealed inside it were 544 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa.
The illicit drug, weighing 408kg, packed in 118 cartoons of Indomie Noodles, was concealed in a false compartment of the van and wad meant for distribution in Yola, Mubi and Gombe.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives, on Saturday 1 July, arrested a suspect, Segun Odeyemi conveying 89 jumbo bags of skunk with a total weight of 3,842kg in his truck around Eleganza Area of Ajah, Lekki.
In Osun State, an abandoned J5 Peugeot bus marked AAA 521 SQ with bags of fresh pepper used to conceal 25 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 300.5kg was recovered along Akure-Ilesa Expressway.
The bus was recovered after its occupants sighted NDLEA operatives on patrol, last Friday.
In the same vein, operatives in Ogun State, Thursday, raided a skucchies factory at Ajaka Sagamu where a suspect, Adekunle Adekola, was arrested.
Exhibits recovered from the premises include: 10kg cannabis; 1,356 litres of skucchies; 20 litres of codeine; seven deep freezers; a set of firman generator; and two gas cylinders, among others.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), had commended the team of NDLEA officers tracking the fentanyl opioid syndicate in the country.
He thanked them for the success of the operations so far, and also gave thumbs up to their counterparts in Adamawa, Lagos, Osun and Ogun states for the arrests and seizures of the past week.
Marwa NDLEA operatives across the country to continue to set their eyes on the goal of ridding the country of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.
