Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a consignment of illicit drugs concealed in the engine compartment of an interstate commercial bus.
Also, two grandfathers were taken into custody over drug trafficking, besides other arrests.
About 5.2kg of Cannabis sativa and opioids were discovered in the engine compartment of an interstate commercial bus, marked VDY 187 XA, on Thursday, March 7, 2024, along the Gbongan-Ibadan road, Osun State, during a stop-and-search operation.
The bus driver, Iorliam Sughnen Dominic, 35, who took responsibility for the consignment was taken into custody for further investigation.
Spokesperson for the agency, Femi Babafemi, who confirmed this yesterday, said the previous day, Wednesday, March 6, a 26-year-old lady, Obasanmi Esther Iyanu, who produces and distributes skuchies, was arrested during a raid on her hideout in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
At least, 16.5 litres of the illicit substance and different quantities of molly and cannabis were recovered during the raid.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives in Borno State arrested a 70-year-old grandfather, Mai Gemu Adam and 65-year-old Yamama Musa for drug trafficking.
They were arrested on Saturday, March 9, along with 24-year-old Abubakar Ya’u and Babagana Abubakar Ali, 28, in Maiduguri and Gamboru-Ngala, respectively, while 32,000 ampoules of tramadol injection were recovered from them.
The same day, operatives at Geidam in Yobe State intercepted a Golf 3 saloon car heading to Gagamari in Niger Republic, where the occupant, Mala Tijjani, 28, was to deliver 40 blocks of cannabis weighing 24.5kg to another dealer, while 42 cartons containing 8,400 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 1,260 kilogrammes were recovered from a driver, Mutari Ya’u, 29, at Katsina Road, Kaduna, on Tuesday, March 5.
In Kano State, Nura Yusuf, 35, was arrested with 62kg of cannabis at the Gadar Tamburawa area. Abubakar Sani, 40, was also nabbed with 244 bottles of codeine syrup, while Mohammad Alkali, 28, was found with 49,800 pills of tramadol, along Kano-Maiduguri road, on Thursday, March 7.
This was as NDLEA operatives in Lagos State on Wednesday, March 6, arrested one Aba Thomas at the Igbo Elerin area of the state where 84 litres of skuchies, 1.1 litres of codeine syrup, 4kg Cannabis sativa, and 800 tablets of tramadol 225mg were seized from him.
No fewer than eight suspects were arrested on Friday, March 8, when NDLEA officers raided the notorious Karu abattoir drug joint in the FCT, Abuja. The officers recovered 51.3kg of cannabis. Those arrested are: Buhari Muhammadu; Jamilu Muhammed; Abubakar Wappa; Yahaya Tasiu; Ezekiel Mulanda; Abba Haruna; Habibu Umar and Shamsu Lawali.
In Plateau State, two suspects: Pam Thomas, 45, and Stephen Nyam, 38, were on Monday, March 4, arrested with cannabis weighing 611.428kg at Zawan, Jos South, while in Kogi State, NDLEA officers intercepted a commercial J5 bus coming from Onitsha, Anambra State to Zaria, Kaduna State, on Wednesday, March 6, along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway. A total of 8,580 pills of tramadol and exol-5 were seized from a suspect, Yusuf Abdullahi, 40.
In Enugu, operatives, on Tuesday, March 5, raided some locked-up shops at the new market in Enugu metropolitan area, where 371.42kg of cannabis and 9.49grammes of methamphetamine were recovered.
Meanwhile, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) has commended the efforts of the Borno, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, Osun, Lagos, Plateau, Enugu, Yobe and FCT commands of the agency for jobs well done in the past week.
He charged them and their compatriots in other formations nationwide not to rest on their oars.
