The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on New Year’s Day, January 1, intercepted a consignment of Colorado, a very strong strain of cannabis, concealed in boxing kits imported from the United States of America, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
Director, Media & Advocacy of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja
Babafemi disclosed that a weeklong intelligence-led operation to get the receiver arrested was consummated on Saturday, January 6, following the successful tracking and arrest of 38-year-old Olorunfunmi Saheed Olakunle who distributes the dangerous psychoactive substance to dealers across Lagos state.
The NDLEA spokesman explained that the consignment had arrived the country on Monday, January 1 via Cairo on Egypt Airlines flight marked as boxing kits.
“According to Saheed, he delivers such consignments to different recipients whenever his childhood friend, US-based Sagir Salami sends them. The latest shipment has a total weight of 1.80 kilograms,” Babafemi said.
“Meanwhile, a 28-year-old female supplier of ammunition to bandits, Bilkisu Suleman came top on the list of twelve (12) other suspects arrested by NDLEA operatives in new year interdiction operations in Kaduna, Lagos, Niger, Kogi, Kano, Borno, and Osun states.
“Bilkisu was arrested on Wednesday 3rd January by NDLEA officers on patrol along Zaria Kano expressway in possession of 249 rounds of 7.62 mm live ammunition concealed in a black nylon bag kept in her lady’s handbag.
“She was on her way to deliver the ammunition to an identified bandit in Kakumi village, Katsina state when she was nabbed after which she was transferred to the Kaduna state command of the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.
“The military authorities at the Bonny camp cantonment in Lagos on Tuesday 2nd January transferred a suspect, Francis Suru, 37 and 63 jumbo bags of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 2,104.2 kilograms and a truck to the Lagos state command of NDLEA.
“The suspect and the drug exhibits were earlier intercepted by NDLEA officers on 12th December 2023 close to the gate of the military cantonment in Bonny Camp, Victoria Island. Some armed escorts however resorted to sporadic shooting to obstruct the operation, a development which attracted soldiers from the cantonment, who eventually intervened and took custody of the consignment and suspect before transferring them to the Agency.
“In the same vein, NDLEA operatives in Niger state on Thursday 5th January during a stop and search operation along Suleja-Kaduna road intercepted a J5 bus coming from Ondo state to Zaria, Kaduna state with twenty-three (23) bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5kg. Two suspects: Umar Musa, 26 and Isachiru Abubakar were arrested in connection with the seizure.
“While a female drug trafficker, Queen Onyema, 27, was arrested on Saturday 6th January in a commercial bus enroute Abuja along Okene-Lokoja expressway with 12 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 4.6kg and 0.046kg designer drugs concealed in an indomie carton, another suspect Mubarak Sani, 20, was nabbed at Gadar Tamburawa area of Kano on Monday 1st January with 445.9k kilograms of the same psychoactive substance,” the statement read in part.