Nigeria’s narcotics agency, NDLEA busts Katsina wedding drug party, arrests groom, 25 others; recovers illicit drugs going to illegal miners in Kano; nabs Beninoise, Nigerien, others
On December 9th, 2023, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted 12 consignments of cocaine from members of a drug trafficking organization at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.
Augustine Justine Emeka, a 44-year-old copper wire trader, was arrested at the airport with 797 cocaine pellets weighing 17.6 kilograms, allegedly intended for delivery to 12 different individuals.
In a related development, Onyejiuwa Prince Ifeanyi, a fleeing suspect who has been in hiding since September 8thfollowing the seizure of a United Kingdom bound 20kg cannabis consignment concealed in tomato pastes tins at the SAHCO shed linked to him, was apprehended by NDLEA agents at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos, on Friday, December 8.
On December 4th, operatives of the Seaports Operations of the NDLEA arrested Jamila Fatiu, a 45-year-old Beninoise, at Ebute Ero Jetty in Lagos Island with 398 bottles of codeine cough syrup.
In Katsina State, NDLEA officers acting on intelligence disrupted a pre-wedding ceremony drug abuse competition in a community popularly known as Shola Quarters, Katsina and arrested 25 youths involved in the drug party. While the suspects were occupied with alternately abusing various illicit substances, such as a combination of drugs put in a plastic bucket, NDLEA agents suddenly closed in on them. Even though the groom, Musa Gwandi, who planned the drug party with his buddies, wasn’t there at the location when the other 25 people were taken into custody, he was nonetheless apprehended on Sunday, December 3, after a manhunt.
Same day, Sunday, December 3, NDLEA agents inAnambra State stopped a truck bearing the licence plate BEN 302 YS (Edo). During a search, they found 5,612 bottles of syrup with a codeine base, 57,800 tramadol pills, and 5,100 ampoules of injectable pentazocine, among other items. The driver, Ambrose Oyamedan, conductors – Samuel Otejere and Obey Jonathan as well as the truck were taken into custody for further investigation.Two ladies: Chiemenam Akusoba, 25, and Chidinma Ibenwa, 28, were also arrested on Saturday, 9th December with 15.8503kg of Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine and Cannabis sativa in Umuogbu, Nnobi and Onitsha respectively.
Three suspects, Monday John, 50; Maryam Adang, 48; and Mohammed Lawal Musa, 36, were arrested in Kaduna State for cannabis possession. John was found with 28.4kg, Adang with 18.6kg, and Musa, an indigene of Damagaran, Niger Republic, with 34kg on the Abuja-Kaduna highway.
In Kogi State, a 20-year-old Adamu Nuhu was arrested on Monday, 3rd December along Okene- Lokoja- Abuja expressway while coming from Onitsha, Anambra enroute Kaduna, carrying 2,700 ampoules of pentazocine, 11,900 tramadol pills, and 124,000 diazepam tablets.
In Borno State, NDLEA operatives recovered81,975 tramadol pills from three suspects: Mohammed Abubakar, 25; and Hassan Mohammed, 25, both in Response Area, Bayo town while Suleman Hamidu, 27, was nabbed by soldiers on a follow-up operation in Mubi town, Adamawa State.
While Taye Ali, 43, and Okon Peter, 60 were arrested with 97kg cannabis at Kanisuru, Ipele area of Ondo State on Saturday, 9th December, Nnabuke Christian, 29, was nabbed with 46,000 tabs of diazepam, 4,900 tramadol pills and 6,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection at Gwagwalada area of the FCT Abuja. The suspect admitted that the consignment was for onward supply to illegal miners at Sabongarin Doguwa in Kano State.