Imported User:
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Kogi has arrested 38 suspects, including six women, seizing 73 bags of Indian Hemp (Cannabis sativa) in a raid carried out on Wednesday.
The raid was carried out by a combined team, made up of the NDLEA, Police, Army and the State Security Service (SSS) at the Lokoja Local Government Trailers’ Park in Obajana, near Lokoja.
Describing the operation as successful, the Commander of the NDLEA in the state, Alhaji Idris Bello, said that apart from the 73 bags of cannabis, 421 tubes of rubber solution were recovered from the suspects.
Other narcotic substances recovered from them include several packs of cough syrup, 217 sachets of Diazepam, Erinmore tobacco, bottles of dry gin both local and foreign.
Bello said the command received information on the activities of the drug dealers and users in the area and went there on surveillance only to discover that it was a big racket requiring higher force.
“We went there on surveillance and discovered that we alone could not do it. We needed the collaboration of some other agencies to help us carryout the operation because of the nature of the place.
“We went with NDLEA officers, the Army, the Police and the SSS, they gave us good cover with their arms and ammunitions and vehicles. We need more resources to effectively tackle this menace.”
He appealed to the Kogi Government to support the command with logistics to enable it prosecute the war against illicit drugs effectively.
On the suspects, Bello said that most of them were smokers who would go on counseling or rehabilitation (in the cases of addicts), while the dealers would be prosecuted on completion of investigations.
One of the suspects, Mohammed Saleh, said he was running the cannabis business for his “Oga”, whom he simply called Sani from Sokoto on a salary of N5, 000 per month.
Another suspect, Samaila Mohammed, confessed that he was a smoker but not a courier.
Add new comment