Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have uncovered and dismantled a social media network used to distribute illicit substances packaged as imported Christmas cookies and snacks.

NDLEA’s Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said that two masterminds were detained after a raid on their hideout in Lekki area of Lagos.

Babafemi said that the drug syndicate operated by the duo had imported consignments of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis and a variety of colourful designer sachets.

He said the substances were packaged in retail quantities using sachets printed with pictures and labels of cookies and snacks.

Babafemi explained that following credible intelligence on the activities of the syndicate, which operated and distributed drugs through a WhatsApp platform, NDLEA operatives began tracking their movements.

He said the operatives eventually raided the syndicate’s apartment on Ojulari Street, Ikate area of Lekki on Nov. 22.

He added that a large quantity of the designer sachets and 5kg of Loud were recovered during the operation.

In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Nov. 27 arrested a 38-year-old drug kingpin while he was taking delivery of 110 pouches of Canadian Loud weighing 55.6kg at the Ladipo area of Mushin.

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Babafemi said three delivery vehicles were also seized from him at the point of arrest.

Meanwhile, at a courier company in Lagos, 100 grams of Loud concealed in a teddy bear imported from Thailand were intercepted on Nov. 27.

He said a consignment of 548 capsules of tramadol hidden in bottles of Vitamin C and Magnesium and destined for the United Kingdom was also recovered at another logistics firm on Nov. 28.

He further disclosed that in Oyo State, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Lagos–Ibadan expressway on Nov. 29 arrested a suspect with 8,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection.

“Other items recovered from the suspect were 590 bottles of codeine syrup, 1,500 pills of Co-codamol and 9,900 capsules of tramadol,” he said.

He added that no fewer than seven suspects were arrested on  Nov. 24 when NDLEA operatives raided the Ipe Forest in Akoko South-East area of Ondo State, where they recovered 3,077kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis.

Babafemi added that another suspect was arrested along the Okene–Lokoja Highway in Kogi State on Nov. 26 while conveying 649kg of skunk in a truck.

Babafemi said another suspect was arrested along the Okene/Lokoja highway, Kogi state, conveying 649kg of skunk in a truck on Nov. 26.

“NDLEA officers at the Seme Special Area Command on Nov. 28 raided a warehouse at Ashipa, Seme border area of Badagry, Lagos.”

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“They arrested a suspect with 487 blocks of skunk weighing 243.5kg.”

In the same vein, in Kano, another suspect was arrested along the Zaria-Kano road with 137kg of skunk on Nov. 24.

Babafemi said that three suspects were nabbed on Nov. 26 with 322 blocks of skunk weighing 209kilograms at Fanshanu village, Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi state.

“A black Toyota Highlander jeep marked ABJ 533 EA used in conveying the consignment was also recovered from them,” he said.

Similarly, a suspect was arrested with 210.15kg skunk along Abuja/Jos highway on Nov. 29, while a couple.

Babafemi said that two suspects were nabbed along the Abuja/Kaduna highway with 725 rounds of 7.62 mm live ammunition concealed in a sack of maize.

He said that another suspect was caught with 400 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition at Abuja/Kaduna tollgate on Nov. 28.

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A Department of State Services (DSS) investigator, on Tuesday, told the Federal High Court in Abuja that Mr Tukur Mamu was offered a N50 million share by Shugaba, the leader of the terrorist group, who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna-bound train in 2022.

The DSS operative, who testified as the 6th prosecution witness (PW-6) in the ongoing terrorism trial of Mamu, the alleged terrorists’ negotiator, told Justice Mohammed Umar while being led in evidence by the DSS lawyer, David Kaswe.

The witness, who gave his testimony behind a witness screen for security reasons, said the group also asked Mamu to teach them how to open a website for their terrorist activities.

He stated this while interpreting four voice notes played in the courtroom containing the defendant’s telephone interactions with the terrorists who held the abducted train passengers hostage.

The audio recordings were extracted from Mamu’s mobile telephones during interrogation after he was arrested in Egypt and brought back to Nigeria.

“The first voice note that played was for the defendant (Mamu) fixing a date for the delivery of the ransom.”

“The second voice note that played for five minutes was the voice of Shugaba, the leader of the terrorist group.”

“In the voice note, he was appreciating the defendant’s effort and asked him to remove N50 million for his personal use from a particular tranche of ransom sent to them.

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“The last voice note that played, Baba Adamu, who is their spokesperson, was heard requesting the defendant to help them procure speakers and a public address system for their preaching activities, and the defendant responded that he was going to look into their request.

“They also requested that the defendant teach them how to open a website for their activities,” the witness said.

Mamu was alleged to have convinced the terrorists to discuss ransom payments with individual families of the hostages of the train attack instead of the Chief of Defence Staff Committee set up by the Federal Government for his personal financial gain.

The defendant was said to have been nominated by the terrorists who attacked the train sometime in March 2022, where scores of passengers were held hostage.

Mamu was alleged to have collected ransoms on behalf of a terror group from families of hostages, confirmed the amount and facilitated the delivery of the same to them.

The PW-6, while being led in evidence on Tuesday by the prosecuting lawyer, Kaswe, told the court that after Mamu was brought back from Egypt, he submitted his Samsung tablet and two phones to DSS officials.

The witness said he was one of those who investigated the case.

He told the court that when the defendant was intercepted in Egypt, he made a call to his in-law, identified as Mubarak Tinja and directed him to move out all his valuables, comprising cash, cars and other items of value, from his house to a safe location, to avoid detection by security agents.

“The defendant was subsequently arrested in Egypt and returned back to Nigeria, where a team of investigators were on the ground to receive him.

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“A duly endorsed search warrant was executed in his property and office in Kaduna, during which cash, in both local and foreign currencies, vehicles and other valuables were recovered.

“In compliance with his directive to his in-law, Mubarak Tinja, and the other dependants in the house, some cars and cash were moved out of the house to various locations,” he said.

He said investigators later traced and located some of the items, including about 300,000 US dollars, about seven cars, including a Toyota Camry (Muscle), a Peugeot 5008, a Lexus, a Mercedes E350 and a Hyundai car.

Vehicle documents relating to the cars were later tendered by the prosecution through the witness, which the court admitted in evidence.

The witness added that when the defendant was brought back to the country, he “handed his Samsung tablet and two of his phones to our exhibit keeper, who sent them to our forensic department for forensic analysis.”

The outcome of the forensic analysis, which included the voice notes of the conversation between the defendant and the terrorists, was part of the content that was presented to the interrogation team and the items recovered from his home.

“He (the defendant) was subsequently interviewed, during which the content of his phones and other items were presented to him.”

“During the interview, the defendant admitted giving instructions to Mubarak to move his belongings from his house.”

“He also admitted communicating with the terrorists, using his voice notes, which were extracted from his two phones and Samsung tablet.”

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He added that the defendant also admitted owning a pump-action gun, which was recovered from his house, which he claimed was duly licensed.

The witness, however, told the court that investigators later discovered that the licence had expired in December 2021, nine months before he was arrested.

The DSS operative said about 98 per cent of the conversation on the voice notes is in Hausa language, some of which were translated into English by him, because there were too many.

Kaswe then applied to tender the recorded voice notes stored on compact disk plates and flash drives, which the court admitted, after Mamu’s counsel, Johnson Usman, reserved his objection until the final address.

The recorded conversations were played in the courtroom.

The witness added that in the course of the investigation, two victims volunteered written statements in which they recounted their experiences.

He said one of the statements was written in English and the other in Hausa Language.

He, however, said that the victims, a male and female, were no longer available, because they expressed their unwillingness to attend court to testify because of fear and trauma.

The court admitted the statements of the victims in evidence and marked them as exhibits after they were not opposed by Usman.

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The court also admitted in evidence eight statements made to investigators by Mamu and video recordings of the statement-writing sessions.

Kaswe then informed the court that he would be bringing a formal application for the court to visit where the items recovered from Mamu’s house and office are kept.

Justice Umar adjourned the matter until Nov. 26 at 11am for the continuation of the trial.

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday sentenced Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of the terrorism offences.

Justice James Omotosho, who earlier convicted Kanu in all seven counts preferred against him, held that the Federal Government had been able to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt against Kanu in the terrorism offences.

Justice Omotosho consequently sentenced the IPOB leader to life imprisonment in counts one, four, five and six, instead of the death sentence penalty.

According to the judge, life is sacred to God.

The judge, who sentenced Kanu to a 20-year jail term in count three, however, committed him to three years’ imprisonment in count seven.