After the NDLEA stops drug shipments in a wooden statue and an imported car, 11 suspects are taken into custody

Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, Chairman of the NDLEA, has ordered police to crack down harder on drug cartels.

The last week saw the interception of no less than 37.5 kg of such illegal shipments, the detention of 11 suspects, and the recovery of nearly four tonnes of skunk in the states of Kaduna, Kano, and Lagos.

In an attempt to export 1.5 kilogrammes of skunk disguised as food to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, through the SAHCO export shed of the MMIA, freight agent Ogunsina Damilare was detained at the Lagos airport on Friday, January 6th. In contrast, an attempt to export 11.5 kilogrammes of the same substance to the United Kingdom was unsuccessful when the shipment was hidden in a massive wooden sculpture and intercepted by NDLEA agents of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations.

Curiously, the latter had London as its final destination and originated in Ghana.

A shipment of 24.5 kilogrammes of cannabis indica bound for Nigeria from Montreal, Canada, was stopped at the Tincan port in Lagos by agents, and the N8 million bribe the importer gave NDLEA personnel has been saved in an account for the case’s prosecution.

Cedrick Maduweke, the importer, is still at large, but Steve Isioma Adigwe, one of his aides, has been taken into custody. The shipment was concealed inside a used Toyota Sienna that arrived at the port with three other vehicles in a container with the MSMU 5082733 marking.

Five people were taken into custody in Kaduna during separate raid operations, and 3,672 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa were found at two different sites.

On January 3, Edward Emmanuel, 28, and Miracle Madu were taken into custody in a warehouse in Rido village, along with 298 bags of C/S weighing 3,576 kg. Investigations showed that a truck carrying petroleum products was used to transport the shipment from a southern state to Kaduna.

In addition, Sanusi Isah, 30, was detained on January 7th in the Giwa area with more than 12,000 tablets of Tramadol 225 mg and Diazepam. Sunday Bassey, 29, and Jessica Daniel, 14, were also detained with 96 kg of the same material.

On Saturday, January 7, NDLEA agents in Kano stopped Kabiru Abdulhamid, 40, at Semugu with 119 blocks of C/S weighing 73 kg, while raids in Festac Town and Lagos Island districts of Lagos State netted a total of 28,400 tramadol tablets and more than 230 kg of cannabis.

Rukayyat Eshinlokun, Pelumi Alejo, and Banna Maina, who specialise in the trafficking of illegal substances while posing as dispatch riders, are some of the individuals detained in the raids in Lagos.

Amechi Moses, a suspect in Imo state, was detained in a follow-up operation on Friday, January 6, as a result of the discovery of 29,800 Tramadol 225mg tablets in a commercial bus travelling from Owerri to Onitsha in Abia state.

Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retired), Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, praised the officers and personnel of Tincan, MMIA, DOGI, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, and Imo commands for the arrests and seizures.

He told them to put more pressure on Nigeria’s drug gangs while balancing their efforts to cut down on drug supply with their efforts to cut down on drug demand.