The Imo State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 48 year-old-man with substance suspected to be cannabis Sativa weighing over 247kilograms.
Mr Nse Inam, the Imo NDLEA commander said this while parading the suspect at the command’s headquarters in Owerri on Tuesday.
Inam, who was represented by the Assistant State Commander in charge of Operations and intelligence, Mr Kayode Raji, said that the substance was found in the home of the suspect by officers of the command at 2 a.m on Monday.
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He added that the suspect, whom the agency had been training for about four months, was arrested based on intelligence reports from monitoring and surveillance.
He further alleged that the suspect was a notorious dealer and major supplier of the exhibit to most outlets in the state, adding that his arrest would go a long way in reducing the spate of circulation of illicit drugs in Imo.
The Imo NDLEA boss also said that all facts of the arrest were ready for the prosecution of the suspect.
He assured that necessary mechanism had already been put in place by the agency to forestall any possible attempt by sympathisers of the suspect to frustrate his prosecution.
“In the last four months, our men have worked very hard to achieve this result and we believe that the arrest of this major notorious drug dealer will sound a note of warning to other peddlers in Imo to desist forthwith.
“We respect fundamental human rights of everyone and that is why we have thoroughly prepared the facts of this arrest for prosecution,’’ he said.
He, however, called on members of the public to report suspected drug peddlers to the NDLEA while thanking officers of the command for a job well done.
On his part, the suspect, a father of five said that he usually bought the exhibits from a supplier in Edo and sold them in Imo, adding that he had been in the business for five years.
He also claimed that farming was his major occupation, saying that he was in business of cannabis Sativa to make additional income.