The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted cylinders of 1,194 of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, with a weight of 2,547.2 kilograms loaded in two Toyota Sienna buses along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway in Kogi State.
The NDLEA operatives intercepted the laughing gas on Friday, September 22, 2023, and arrested two suspects, Onyebuchi Ikpozu and Kenneth Igwe, who were taking the consignments to Abuja for distribution.
While one of the Toyota Sienna buses marked KTU 582 HV was conveying 99 cartons containing 594 cylinders weighing 1,267.200kgs, the second bus with registration number FKJ 329 YA was conveying 100 cartons of the substance with 600 cylinders weighing 1,280kgs.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, who made the disclosure in a statement on Sunday, September 24, noted that a 48-year-old woman, Ugo Eluba, was also arrested in Abuja in a follow-up operation after 2,400 ampules of pentazocine injection and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 intercepted in Kogi State were traced to her.
Babafemi added that the operatives of the anti-drug agency equally intercepted 977 kilograms of skunk on Wednesday, September 20, in a trailer marked LSR 343 XW, bearing cartons of maggi in Abuja.
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He stated that the skunk consignment was loaded into the truck at Ipele junction in Ondo State, noting that 959kgs of the substance were meant for distribution in Sokoto State, while the rest was to be dropped off at Gwagwalada.
The NDLEA spokesman disclosed that two suspects, Auwal Mohammed and Abdullahi Abubakar, have been arrested in connection with the seizure, adding that two other suspects – Mutari Abdulazeez, 31, and Ayuba Madaki, 28 – were also arrested on Saturday, September 23, at the Zuba area of Abuja with different quantities of methamphetamine, cannabis, and 13,930 pills of tramadol.
Commending the anti-narcotics officers for the arrests and seizures, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), also applauded their compatriots in all the commands across the country for intensifying the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation lectures and advocacy messages to every part of their areas of responsibility.
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