Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Ogun State have apprehended a 70-year-old man, Fidelis Egede, along with three other individuals for allegedly cultivating cannabis on six hectares of land.
PLATFORM TIMES reports that the suspects were arrested on Tuesday, August 13, during a raid on the illicit farm located in Alaka village.
In a statement released on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, disclosed the identities of the other suspects as Samuel Sylvanus, 31, Jato Samson, 33, and Francis Blessing, 28.
The NDLEA operatives reportedly stormed the plantation following intelligence reports, leading to the arrest of the suspects and the seizure of the illegal crop.
Babafemi’s statement further revealed a series of other significant drug-related arrests and seizures by the NDLEA across various states within the same period.
On Monday, August 12, NDLEA officers in Kano State arrested Joseph Apeh, 45, and Diamond Nnabuike, 21, with a staggering 145,400 pills of tramadol at Gadar Tamburawa.
In another operation, 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup, with an estimated street value of N6.2 billion, were intercepted at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State.
The drugs, packed in 5,337 cartons and weighing 133,860 kilograms, were reportedly shipped from India and seized during a joint examination by NDLEA, Nigeria Customs, and other port stakeholders on August 14 and 15.
The crackdown on drug activities extended to Ekiti State, where NDLEA operatives, supported by the Nigerian Army and local community members, raided the Ise forest reserve in Saalaja camp, Ise-Ekiti, on Wednesday, August 14.
During the raid, 21,800 kilograms of cannabis sativa cultivated on 20 hectares of farmland were destroyed. A day later, on August 15, NDLEA officers intercepted a Sienna bus along the Onitsha-Enugu road in Enugu, recovering 200.2 kilograms of cannabis and arresting the driver, Okoro Emmanuel, 41.
Further operations saw NDLEA officers in Abuja intercepting a truck on the Kwali-Gwagwalada expressway on August 13, which led to the recovery of 30,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection and the arrest of three suspects: Ifeanyi Sunday, Jeremiah Paul, and Edet Ubokobong.
In Niger State, Ifeanyi Chukwueze was apprehended on August 15 in Kontagora town with 28,500 pills of tramadol hidden inside a loudspeaker.
Meanwhile, in Kogi State, Abba Yakubu was arrested on August 14 with 40,000 pills of tramadol destined for Kontagora, and Tochukwu Onah, 39, was arrested on August 15 in Lokoja with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection.
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