The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made significant arrests across various states in Nigeria, uncovering illicit drug production, distribution, and smuggling activities.
In Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, a 28-year-old woman named Jennifer Iliya was apprehended for allegedly manufacturing and selling cakes infused with cannabis sativa. The NDLEA recovered a substantial quantity of these drugged cakes, weighing approximately 1.5kg, during her arrest. Alongside Iliya, two others, Josephine Odunu, a 20-year-old hair stylist, and Edesemi Ikporo, a 30-year-old dispatch rider, were also arrested for similar offenses in Yenagoa.
In another incident at the Lagos airport, a suspect identified as Yahaya Danjuma Oturah was intercepted while attempting to smuggle 4,000 pills of tramadol 225mg to Malpensa, Italy. The drugs were concealed within women’s clothing and granulated melon in the suspect’s backpack. Oturah confessed to acting as a courier for a fee of €700 upon successful delivery in Italy.
Furthermore, in separate operations, NDLEA operatives arrested individuals involved in the trafficking of illicit substances. Two suspects, Joseph Dadik and Bensha Yari, were apprehended in Kaduna with 24,180 ampoules of pentazocine injection. Additionally, Adamu Umar was nabbed in Adamawa State with 20.700kg of cannabis, while Stanley Chukwudi was caught with 5,900 ampoules of pentazocine injection in Kano State.
In Edo State, a couple, Fredrick Odion and Gladys Odion, were arrested with 50kg of cannabis in the Esan West LGA. The NDLEA also seized a significant amount of cannabis, totaling 310.7kg, during raids in Mushin, Lagos State.
Earlier in April, NDLEA operatives, in collaboration with the Department of State Security, detained a 35-year-old woman, Chidinma Chinenye-Agbazue, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. She was apprehended while attempting to smuggle 20 parcels of cannabis sativa, weighing 10.70 kilograms, disguised within African salad and dried vegetables to Doha, Qatar.
These arrests underscore the NDLEA’s ongoing efforts to combat drug trafficking and abuse in Nigeria, safeguarding communities from the harmful effects of illicit substances.
