NDLEA Intercepts UK-Bound N.5Billion Worth Meth, Arrests Baron, Seals Lekki Mansion
By Bukar Bolori
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a large consignment of methamphetamine concealed in powdered custard containers as part of a consolidated cargo going to London, United Kingdom at the SAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
According to a statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, the illicit drug consignment weighing 30.1 kilogrammes with a street value of N567 million was detected and seized by NDLEA operatives at the airport last Tuesday.
He said the seizure was swiftly followed by series of follow-up operations that led to the arrest of a freight agent, Nwobodo Chidiebere; a female suspect, Chioma Akuta and ultimately the drug lord behind the shipment, Chinedu Ezeh, who was arrested at Sotel Suites, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos last Thursday.
Babafemi said Ezeh claimed he is a businessman and deals in articles in Onitsha, Anambra State, but that investigations revealed he lived with his wife and children in London until 10th December 2022 when he fled to Nigeria after his involvement in a drug related offence in the UK.
The spokesman said though Ezeh claimed to have been living in hotels since his return to Nigeria last December, operatives were however able to locate his mansion at No.1 Hawawu Abikan Street, Lekki, last Friday, where a search was conducted and his travel and property documents among others were recovered.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Adamawa last Monday arrested a 32-year-old notorious drug dealer, Prince Ikechukwu Uzoma, in Mubi area of the state with a kilogramme of skunk.
Ikechukwu, was said to have twice been arrested in the past, and convicted for the same offence. He was in 2017 sentenced to six months imprisonment and in 2019 was again sent to two years in jail.
In the same vein, a trans-border trafficker, Faisal Mohammed, 27, was last Wednesday arrested in Mubi following the interception of a truck from Onitsha, Anambra State, where a total of 2,376 sachets of tramadol comprising 23,760 pills were found concealed in three blue rubber Jerrycans which were hidden underneath the body part of the trailer.
The suspect admitted the opioid was to be taken to Cameroon.
In Oyo state, two suspects: Osas Susan, 35, and Thomas Biodun, 23, were arrested at Igbon, Gambari in Ogbomoso North local government area with 2.13 kilogrammes cannabis while Idris Muhammed, 55, was nabbed with 4,500 pills of tramadol when a commercial bus conveying him and other passengers was stopped and searched along Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
Similarly, Bulus Mikah, 63, was arrested at Kafanchan, Kaduna state with over 5 kilogrammes opioids including tramadol, diazepam, rohypnol and exol-5, just as a total of 965 kilogrammes cannabis was seized from Shehu Muhammadu Dandare, 25, at Maraban Jos, in Igabi local government area of the state, while 552 kilogrammes cannabis was recovered from a warehouse in a bush when operatives stormed and destroyed 1.5 hectares of cannabis farm in Uhodoua forest, Esan South East local government area, Edo state, 10 suspects were arrested with a total of 5.6 kilogrammes cannabis sativa, 144.4 grammes of methamphetamine and 48,260 capsules of tramadol in different parts of Onitsha, Anambra state last Friday.
In Kwara, two suspects: Mohammed Isa, 47 and Mohammed Haman, 36, were arrested last Friday along Ilorin/Lagos road in a commercial bus on their way to Maiduguri, Borno state with 6 kilogrammes cannabis, 50 grammes of methamphetamine and 20 pieces of military camouflage caps and uniforms.
The same day, operatives in Jigawa state nabbed one Ibrahim Abdullahi, 53, with 120 kilogrammes cannabis at Sara town in Gwaram local government area.
Not less than 628 bottles of new psychoactive substance, skuchies were seized when operatives raided a drug joint at Idanre where four suspects were arrested.
They include: Olamide Olusola, 26; Abiodun Tijjani, 21; Fatope Temidayo, 29; Agba Obi, 30 and Olafisoye Festus, 26. Also, a suspect, Kayode Hakeem, 22, was arrested at Hawan Dawaki, Kano with 293 blocks of cannabis weighing 211.6 kilogrammes.
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen.Buba Marwa (Retd) has commended the officers and men of MMIA command for their professionalism and speed with which they were able to track and arrest another drug kingpin, Ezeh Chinedu.
He charged them and their colleagues in Adamawa, Oyo, Kaduna, Edo, Kwara, Jigawa, Ondo and Kano as well as those in other commands and formations across the country not to rest on their oars.
