The Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s Anti-narcotic Agency, the National Drugs Laws Enforcement Agency NDLEA, Retired Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, has charged officers of the agency to step up offensive action against drug cartels in the year 2023 across the country.
Marwa was speaking through a press statement by the Agency’s spokesperson, Mr Femi BabaFemi in reaction to drug seizures by officers of various commands across the country within last week.
while commending the officers and men of the affected commands, Marwa urged the officers to focus on drug demand reduction efforts in the new year.
Weekly operations
Meanwhile, a Brazilian returnee, Agbasi Chux, has been arrested by operatives of NDLEA with 105 parcels of cocaine concealed in candies at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos on Christmas Day.
According to the agency’s spokesperson, the suspect was arrested at the ‘D’ arrival hall of the MMIA during inward clearance of passengers from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Doha on Qatar Airways on Monday, 25th December 2022 following credible intelligence.
He said, examination of the duty-free shopping bags containing packs of candies revealed the packs of candies inside were actually used to conceal 105 parcels of cocaine weighing 2.8 kilograms and 43 grams of cannabis.
Preliminary test conducted on a plastic bottle of body lotion also found in possession of the suspect also tested positive to cocaine with a total weight of 472 grams.
BabaFemi explained that the suspect who is Married to a Brazilian lady with a child claimed to be into clothing business in Brazil and planned to sell the drug in Enugu, his state.
Meanwhile, three other traffickers were arrested by operatives with 256 kilograms of illicit substances seized from them during interdiction operations in Kwara, Kogi and Niger state in the past week.
Also, a team of NDLEA officers on stop and search operations along Ilorin- Jebba highway on Monday 26th December arrested a suspect, Idris Saeed, 19, with 60 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 30kgs.
