By Fisayo Ogunsakin with agency reports
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has confirmed the arrest of a Chinese national, Liang Tak You, and several others in a series of coordinated drug enforcement operations across the country.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Liang was apprehended on Friday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, with 50 parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, weighing 26.10kg.
Babafemi said the suspect, a naturalised Malaysian based in the country, had arrived Nigeria from Bangkok, Thailand, via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight. He was arrested after NDLEA operatives who had been monitoring his journey allowed him to complete arrival formalities before intercepting him on his way out of the airport.
In another operation in Calabar, Cross River State, NDLEA operatives arrested an 80-year-old woman, Grace Ekpeme, at Edet-Nsa Street, Base Site, Calabar South, with over 3kg of skunk. The arrest followed an intelligence-led raid conducted in the early hours of Saturday, July 26.
In Lagos, a suspect identified as Chidi Agbafo was arrested on the Epe-Ajah Expressway with 21.7kg of Colorado and 3.8 litres of codeine-based syrup. The items were being transported in a commercial bus concealed in moimoi cooking sachets and were intended for delivery in Warri and Oghara, Delta State.
At the Apapa seaport, a joint security inspection led to the seizure of 101kg of Canadian Loud concealed in 202 tins of imported food labelled “Bean Salad Mix.” The contraband was hidden in two Toyota Sienna buses packed in a container from Canada.
On Wednesday, July 23, along the Abuja-Kaduna Highway, operatives recovered 71,000 pills of tramadol, diazepam, and exol-5 from a suspect, Usman Musa, who was travelling to Kano in a commercial bus.
In Maiduguri, Borno State, 30.1kg of skunk was seized from a female suspect, Binta Usman, with further investigations leading to the arrest of an accomplice, Bala Abdullah.
In Ondo State, three brothers, Nanna Ozirinye, Chizom Ozirinye, and Maxwell Ozirinye, were arrested during a raid at a cannabis plantation in Bend Corner forest, Ose Local Government Area. The NDLEA said 2,500kg of skunk were destroyed in the operation.
Similarly, in Benin City, Edo State, a 26-year-old woman, Bright Sunday Okon, was arrested during a raid in Asakpa community. Various strains of cannabis including Colorado, Loud, Arizona, and skunk, as well as methamphetamine, were recovered from her.
In Keffi, Nasarawa State, NDLEA operatives intercepted 105.4kg of skunk in an abandoned Honda car marked ABC 204 KM. Meanwhile, in Niger State, a suspect, Bashir Abdullahi, was arrested with 6,400 pills of tramadol 225mg at Kasuwan Gwari, Minna.
In Ogun State, a known drug dealer, Jamiu Omolaja, was arrested in Ifo after a violent confrontation with NDLEA operatives. A total of 113kg of skunk was retrieved from his hideout.
Also, 10,910 capsules of tramadol were seized from Adamu Adamu on the Gombe-Bajoga road in Gombe State on Saturday. In Kogi State, operatives intercepted a consignment of skunk concealed in garri, dried scent leaves and other food items on the Okene-Lokoja highway.
A follow-up operation in Abuja led to the arrest of 27-year-old Kindness Bala, who was planning to transport the consignment to Katsina State and subsequently to Qatar. In another operation in Kogi, officers recovered 23,600 pills of tramadol, 300 ampoules of pentazocine injection, and 700 grams of skunk from a truck at a motor park in Ayingba.
The NDLEA stated that the series of arrests and seizures form part of ongoing efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks across the country.
Dear readers, we really need your support to keep on serving you with authoritative, truthful, and juicy stories everyday. For your support, please reach out to the editor @gavelinternational66@gmail.com