The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 75-year-old man, Uchelue Ikechukwu, alongside several other suspects, in a nationwide crackdown on drug cartels that led to the seizure of huge consignments of illicit substances and cash across 10 states.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, confirmed the arrests in a statement on Sunday. According to the agency, Ikechukwu was arrested at Umudioka in Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State with 26.7kg of skunk on Thursday, August 28.
Six other suspects were also picked up in Anambra with varying quantities of opioids and cannabis.
In Taraba State, operatives supported by soldiers and local vigilantes raided a 71.5-hectare cannabis farm in Mayodoga forest, Sardauna LGA, where they arrested 30-year-old Alfa Andrew and destroyed 178,750 kilograms of skunk. Andrew was also found with a Dane gun.
Similarly, 104,900 capsules of tramadol hidden in a fuel tanker and allegedly bound for insurgents in Borno were intercepted at the Abuja-Kaduna tollgate on Friday, August 29. The driver, Hassan Buba, was arrested on the spot.
Other raids in Kano, Nasarawa, Gombe, Adamawa, Edo, Ondo, Lagos, and Ekiti led to the seizure of over 500,000 pills of opioids, large quantities of cannabis, codeine syrup, and new psychoactive substances, as well as the arrest of multiple suspects, including a drug kingpin in Ado-Ekiti, identified as Ajayi Ayodeji Idowu.
From Maiduguri, NDLEA recovered N7.9 million in cash from a suspected supplier of opioids, Uchenna Umeh, along with thousands of tramadol and rohypnol pills.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the officers for their efforts, saying: “These arrests and seizures are a clear signal to criminal cartels that Nigeria is not a (safe) haven for drug trafficking. Our operatives are everywhere, and they will continue to dismantle drug syndicates while intensifying our War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization across communities.”
Marwa also applauded state commands for combining enforcement with advocacy, citing sensitization lectures in schools, churches, workplaces, and palaces nationwide.
