NDLEA Arrests Notorious Bandits’ Drug Supplier, Seizes Large Drug Consignments Nationwide

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has recorded major successes in its nationwide crackdown on illicit drugs, arresting a notorious supplier to bandits in Niger and Zamfara states and intercepting large consignments of cannabis, opioids and other controlled substances across the country.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that a 33-year-old suspect, Mohammed Sani, popularly known as Gamboli, was arrested three weeks after escaping an earlier raid on his residence in Anguwan Makera, Kuta, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

Babafemi said NDLEA operatives, acting on credible intelligence, raided Gamboli’s house on November 20 and recovered 471.8 kilograms of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis. The suspect, however, escaped during the operation and went into hiding.

“Intelligence reports revealed that Gamboli was a major supplier of illicit drugs to bandits terrorising Shiroro Local Government Area,” Babafemi stated.

He added that the suspect was eventually arrested on December 11 at one of his drug joints in Anguwan Fadama, Kuta.

In another operation, NDLEA officers intercepted 907 pills of tramadol, tapentadol, cocodamol, amitriptyline and bromazepam concealed in containers of black soap and designer clothing.

The drug consignments, destined for the United States, Canada and Sweden, were seized at two courier companies in Lagos between December 9 and 10.

At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service, intercepted 170,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 23,579 kilograms on December 13.

In Abia State, the agency uncovered a clandestine codeine syrup factory at Amapu Igbengwo village, Umuakpara, Osisioma Local Government Area, where 9,015 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 1,152.2 kilograms were recovered.

In Enugu State, Babafemi said a 45-year-old suspect, Ossai Emeka, was arrested along the Onitsha–Enugu Ezike Road with 7.2 kilograms of skunk, while Enoje Agada, 40, was apprehended along the Enugu Ezike–Ette Road with 94.6 kilograms of the same substance.

Other notable seizures and arrests across the country included:

In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives recovered 3.4 kilograms of skunk, 1.6 kilograms of Colorado (synthetic cannabis) and 400 grams of methamphetamine at a drug joint known as Beere the California. A suspect, Ajibade Faruk, was arrested, while the owner of the joint escaped.

In Ibadan, Oyo State, a 35-year-old woman, Olusanya Abosede, was arrested with 238.4 kilograms of skunk.

In Badagry, Lagos State, two suspects, Bashiru Babalola, 43, and Ugunwale Ranti, 50, were arrested with 50,000 tramadol pills.

In Ogun State, Akinwale Makanjuola and Joseph Owolabi were arrested with 73 kilograms of skunk, while Wasiu Lateef was nabbed with 25 kilograms of the same substance.

In Ondo State, Veronica Obi, 55, and her son, Bright Obi, 29, were arrested with 1,187 kilograms of skunk and cannabis seeds.

In Edo State, a 44-year-old suspect, Ohiomah Igbafe, was arrested with 461 kilograms of skunk and cannabis seeds.

In Gombe State, Muhammed Sani, also known as Sha-Mu-Sha, 50, was arrested with 40,000 capsules of tramadol, while Muhammad Abdullahi, 52, and Muhammed Hamza, 32, were apprehended with 56 kilograms of skunk.

Meanwhile, Babafemi said NDLEA commands across the country intensified the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitisation campaigns in schools, workplaces, worship centres and communities, including in Katsina, Kano, Benue and Enugu states.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), commended the officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control nationwide.