… Arrests Italy-bound physically challenged man for drug trafficking***

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested eight suspected bandits in Ala Forest, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi said in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Also read: NDLEA takes Campaign Against Drug Abuse, Trafficking to Igbologun Community

Babafemi named those arrested as: Austin Dickson, 47, who is the gang leader; Sunday Adekunle, 31; Kayode Oluwaseun, 29; Kolawole Kazeem, 33; Oladimeji Makinde, 37; Emeka Charles, 46; Ojo Oluwadare, 40; and Lanre Oluwajana, 44.

“The suspected bandits were nabbed on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022.

“Recovered from them include twenty-five bags of Cannabis Sativa weighing 296kgs, six explosive devices, six cartridges, four motorcycles and assorted charms used in terrorising farmers in the forest,” he said.

Babafemi said that the NDLEA operatives also discovered 5.5kg of cannabis concealed in CD players in a commercial bus along Sokoto-Bodinga road, on Saturday.

“Upon search, 5.5kgs of cannabis were discovered inside the CD players and the owner, Nasiru Ibrahim arrested.

“While in another bus, a suspected bandit, Sani Ibrahim, 37 was arrested with some ammunition and cannabis Sativa along Kware road, Sokoto State, ” he said.

Meanwhile, an Abuja businesswoman, Onyinye Nwoke, 38, has been arrested following an intelligence-led raid at her residence, 56 Aldenco Estate, Galadimawa.

He added that the operatives uprooted fresh stems of cannabis plants grown at the backyard of the house, 18.4kgs while 800grams of cannabis seeds were also recovered from the house.

Babafemi quoted the Chairman, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa as commending the officers and men of the Sokoto, Ondo, and FCT for the arrests and seizures.

Marwa charged them and their compatriots across the country to intensify the heat on drug cartels in Nigeria while balancing their efforts on supply reduction with drug demand reduction activities.

In the same vein, NDLEA has recovered more than 1.2 million tramadol tablets in Gombe and Lagos states.

Its Director, Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, stated in Abuja on Sunday that 811,000 of the tablets were recovered in Gombe State.

He stated also that an Aug. 27 raid at a rented apartment at Raji Rasaki First Estate in FESTAC Town, Lagos yielded 412,780 tablets of Tramadol.

NDLEA operatives arrested a suspect in the Lagos raid, Babafemi added.

He stated also that a vehicle loaded with Diazepam and Exol 5 weighing 150kg was recovered at the Ahmadu-Kafi area of Gombe.

The vehicle took the drugs to Gombe from Onitsha, Anambra.

He stated also that troops of the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army handed over 792 blocks of Indian hemp to the NDLEA recently.

The Indian hemp was smuggled into Ogun from the Volta region of Ghana but intercepted at a checkpoint on the Ilaro-Benin Republic border.

NDLEA also intercepted a truck conveying animal feeds from Lagos to Kaduna on Sept. 1 and seized 449 compressed blocks of Indian hemp from it.

“Also, 111 bags of Indian hemp weighing 1,531kg belonging to a dealer in Zaria were seized.

“The drug consignment was said to have been loaded into the truck in Akure.

“The truck driver, Yahaya Sani, his assistant Samaila Rabiu, his motor boy Bilal Ibrahim, representative of the cannabis owner, Awolu Isyaku and a passenger Mustapha Abdulrahman were all arrested,’’ Babafemi stated.

In the meantime, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 53-year-old physically challenged man, Ehiarimwiam Osaromo at the departure hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for alleged drug trafficking.

This is contained in a statement by the Director, of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi on Sunday in Abuja.

Babafemi said that Osaromo was arrested on Aug. 28 on his way to Italy, via Doha on a Qatar Airways flight.

He said that the suspect, an indigene of Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo, was found to have concealed 5,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg in his luggage.

“Preliminary investigation reveals that the suspect is a frequent traveller who often travels with lots of bags containing mainly food items, body cream, hair attachment and drinks.

“The suspect was said to have presented his usual large consignment to NDLEA operatives for search but held on to some packages.

“These were retrieved from him and properly searched during which the drugs were discovered,” he said.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives raided a laboratory at Opic estate, Agbara, Lagos on Aug. 29, as part of efforts to demobilise and dismantle organised criminal groups behind the production and distribution of crystal methamphetamine across the country.

“Clues from the property led operatives to another in the vicinity where one Peter James was apprehended with some quantity of the substance.

“A follow-up operation within the estate also led to the arrest of a meth dealer, Mathew Bobby who was caught with 4.033 kilograms of the illicit substance,” he said.

Babafemi quoted the Chairman, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa as commending the officers and men of the MMIA and Lagos commands for the arrests and seizures.