The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a wanted drug baron, Joachin Chikaodi Mbonu, and his associate at his mansion in Umuomi village, Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State.

42-year-old Mbonu was alleged to be the leader of a major drug cartel behind the production and distribution of the deadly psychoactive substance, methamphetamine, popularly called ‘mkpuru mmiri’.

The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, said the cartel with operational bases in Imo and Rivers States became a target of the agency following intelligence indicating it was responsible for the distribution of a substantial quantity of methamphetamine in South-East, South-South, and other parts of Nigeria.

Babafemi stated that after weeks of surveillance, the officers of a special operations unit of the NDLEA, on Friday, July 5, tracked and traced the drug baron to his village mansion in Imo state where he was caught with a member of his cartel, Kenneth Chibuike Ofoegbu, 34, with different quantities of methamphetamine, its precursor chemicals, a pump action gun, and cartridges recovered.

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He listed the exhibits recovered from the mansion to include 419.99 grams of methamphetamine, 750 grams of iodine, a precursor chemical for meth, 500 grams of sodium bicarbonate, a precursor chemical for meth, two electronic weighing scales, and a pump action gun with four cartridges.

He added that the NDLEA operatives moved swiftly to another of Mbonu’s hideout located at Redemption Avenue in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, where they recovered additional exhibits – 750 grams of processed sodium bicarbonate, 170 grams of plain sodium bicarbonate, and 75 grams of meth.

Babafemi disclosed that another raid in the home of one of Mbonu’s associates, Odoemenam Pedro Chinedu, currently at large, at Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State, led to the recovery of another pump action gun with 25 cartridges, among other items.

“While the kingpin cools his heels in custody, two of his mansions in Imo State have been marked for possible forfeiture to the federal government,” Babafemi noted.

The NDLEA spokesperson added that Mbonu escaped from South Africa where he lived for years and mastered the art of cooking methamphetamine after he came under investigation for drug dealings.

He said the suspect, upon his return to Nigeria, continued the criminal trade by setting up clandestine laboratories in remote villages to shield his nefarious activities.

Reacting, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the anti-narcotic officers involved in the multi-pronged operation, saying the manner the interdiction was carried out should send a strong signal to other cartels that there is no hiding place for them in any part of the country.

The Star