Christmas cheer turned into cold bars for a 70-year-old Lagos woman and her son after operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) raided their Mushin home and unearthed a staggering 117.9 kilograms of cannabis sativa.
Selifat Funke Cole, the matriarch of the illicit operation, and her son, Babajide Ayorinde Cole, were both apprehended by the anti-narcotics agency on Thursday, December 21st, 2023, sending shockwaves through the Lagos community and shattering their festive plans.
The NDLEA continues to crack down on drug trafficking across Nigeria, with drug busts in Edo, Delta and Anambra states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where a waybill consignment of 25,000 pills of tramadol was intercepted.
In Anambra, two suspects were apprehended at the Onitsha head bridge with a cache of tramadol capsules, codeine bottles, rohypnol tablets, and designer drugs. In Delta State, a joint operation with the military led to the recovery of 353kg of cannabis from the home of a drug kingpin in Abbi town, while Enugu operatives discovered 435.1kg of cannabis in a warehouse in Trans Ekulu.
Additionally, in Edo State, five individuals impersonating NDLEA officers were arrested with a fabricated gun and codeine-based syrup. The Commands across the country combined drug supply reduction operations with War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaigns targeting schools, markets, worship centres, and communities.