By Atoyebi Nike
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made multiple high-profile drug seizures and arrests across Nigeria, intercepting illicit consignments disguised in everyday items and dismantling major trafficking networks.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives recovered 420g of cocaine stuffed into 84 lipsticks bound for the UK, and 280g hidden in a property title document en route to Saudi Arabia, during a routine check at a courier firm on July 3.
A notorious drug kingpin, Ajetsibo Emami a.k.a. Warri Kinsman, was arrested in Ikeja on June 28, along with three others, after a bust yielded 414.2kg of “Canadian Loud” cannabis packed in 24 jumbo bags.
The Uchenna family drug cartel, involving a businessman, his wife, and daughters, was also exposed. Following a joint DSS-NDLEA operation, a total of 508.5kg of cannabis was seized from their Ojo home between June 13 and July 1.
At MMIA Lagos, a Nigerian-Italian traveller, Aburemi Hysent, was arrested with 7,660 tramadol pills hidden in food packages. Meanwhile, a shipment of $17.7 million in suspected counterfeit Australian travellers’ cheques was uncovered in children’s books destined for Malaysia.
Across the country, NDLEA operations led to the arrest of drug traffickers and the seizure of tramadol, skunk, and synthetic cannabis in Osun, Borno, Kano, Taraba, Edo, Cross River, and Kebbi. Notably, in Osun, officers destroyed 24,175kg of skunk grown across 9.67 hectares of farmland in Oke-Ila forest and arrested seven suspects.
A 78-year-old man, Mike Abeng, was among several arrested in Cross River with 14.49kg of cannabis and tramadol, while raids in Sokoto, Kaduna, Abuja, and Taraba led to further seizures of over 80,000 pills of opioids.
Meanwhile, NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign continued with sensitisation lectures in schools and communities across Enugu, Lagos, Katsina, and Borno.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers across the country for balancing supply reduction with public education in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking.
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