In another major bust, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) operatives have intercepted 20 sets of religious books containing cocaine, preventing the illicit substance from being smuggled into Saudi Arabia.
The seizure was made on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at a Lagos courier company by NDLEA officers from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) while inspecting export cargo bound for Saudi Arabia.
In a statement given to Persecondnews on Sunday in Abuja, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, said that on the same day, the officers intercepted five parcels of ‘Loud’, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 2.8 kilograms, hidden in a carton coming from the United States of America.
Also, on April 13, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Bichi-Kano road in Kano arrested Muhammad Mohammed, a 22-year-old supplier of illicit substances to bandits, who was heading to Katsina with 277 ampoules of pentazocine injection concealed on his thigh and private parts using Sellotape.
It said another suspect, 43-year-old Mohammed Abdulrahman Abdulaziz, was arrested on the same day in the Research Rimin Kebe area of Nasarawa with 68 blocks of Skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 30kg.
In Bayelsa, not less than 557.2kg of skunk, 5.6kg of methamphetamine, and 29.8 grams of heroin were recovered from a house along Maj. Gen. Isaiah Allison Street, Opolo, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where four suspects were arrested when NDLEA operatives raided the premises on Wednesday, April 16.
The raid led to the arrest of Sarimiye Suwa Kurtis, 46; Roland Prosper, 34; Sarimiye Tare Paul, 45; and Fidelis Ugbesla, 46.
On April 17, NDLEA operatives recovered 1,100kg of Skunk from a delivery van and arrested the driver, Ismail Abdullahi, in the Surulere area of Lagos.
Also in Kaduna, NDLEA operatives raided the hideout of 30-year-old Ike Ani in Zaria on Friday, April 18, seizing 31,950 pills of tramadol 225mg and diazepam.
In another operation, the agency intercepted a vehicle loaded with bags of charcoal along Bagudo road in Kebbi on Friday, April 18, with the cargo coming from Malabil, Benin Republic.
A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 97kg skunk concealed in the sacks of charcoal. Three suspects: Abubakar Ibrahim, 50; Mustapha Aliyu, 32; and Bashar Lawali, 28, were arrested in connection with the seizure.
Also, a 48-year-old, Okafor Marcel, was nabbed with 11.5kg of skunk at Abatete, Anambra State, while NDLEA operatives in Osogbo, Osun State, arrested Ajala Mercy, 27, on Tuesday, April 15, with 43 litres of ‘skushi’, a mixture of black currant, cannabis, and opioids, recovered from her room at Dada Estate, Halleluyah area of the state capital.
The statement said two cannabis farms in Egbeta forest in the Ovia North East council area in Edo State were raided by operatives who destroyed 3,717.8625kg of the psychoactive plant on 1.487145 hectares and recovered 136.5kg of processed cannabis.
In one of the agency’s operations in Lagos, at the TINCAN seaport, officers arrested a 40-year-old suspect, Basorun Usman Kayode, who had been at large for two years, in connection with the 2023 seizure of 107kg of ‘Loud’ imported from Canada.
Additionally, another suspect, Dauda Yakubu, known for distributing illicit drugs within the seaport community, was arrested by a team of operatives on Monday, April 14.
The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities continued across the country through various NDLEA commands in the past week.
Some of the activities include WADA sensitization lectures delivered to students and staff of several schools, such as St. Michael Anglican Primary School in Epe, Lagos, and Community Grammar School in Ipoti Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Additional sessions were held for traders at Igbona market in Osogbo, Osun State, and Marian Market in Calabar, Cross River, as well as drivers and others at Peace Mass Transit park in Onitsha, Anambra State, among others.
The Chairman/CEO of NDLEA, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended the officers and men of DOGI, Kano, Lagos, Kaduna, Kebbi, Osun, Zone 13, Edo, and Tincan Commands for their arrests and seizures in the past week.
He also praised their counterparts in all commands across the country for achieving a fair balance between drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
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