The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have destroyed 40 tons (40,000 kilograms) of cannabis plants covering 16 hectares of farmland in forests in Ijesha Isu-Ekiti, Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, who made this known in a statement issued on Sunday, disclosed that the cannabis farmland was destroyed by the anti-narcotics officers in an operation between Monday, September 11, and Wednesday, September 13, 2023.

He stated that two suspects – 27-year-old Shuaibu Yusif, and 20-year-old Abubakar Hussaini – were nabbed with 89.1kgs of skunk during a stop and search patrol by the NDLEA operatives along the Kano-Hadejia Road in Jigawa State on Saturday, September, 23.

Babafemi added that 6,000 ampules of pentazocine injection were recovered from a 35-year-old suspect, Usman Musa Sidi, along the Abuja-Forest Road in Kaduna while on his way to Bauchi State on Monday, September 18.

He said a follow-up operation in Bauchi State led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Dominic Chukwuma, on Tuesday, September 19.

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The NDLEA spokesman noted that 2.58kgs of Diazepam and 36.55kgs of pentazocine injection were recovered from Chukwuma’s home.

Babafemi revealed that two suspects, Inuwa Nuhu and Isiyaku Dahiru Sani, were also arrested on Tuesday, September 19, in connection with the seizure of 49 blocks of cannabis sativa concealed in a black sack weighing 26kgs in a commercial vehicle coming from Ogere in Ogun State to Kano.

He added: “While a total of 183kgs of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis, were recovered from body compartments of a J5 bus intercepted in Lagos on Wednesday 20th September, operatives in Sokoto, on Tuesday 19th September arrested one Charles Okeke, 44, with 473 bottles of codeine syrup at Unguwar Kosai area of Sokoto.

“In Edo State, 365 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 258kgs were recovered from a Toyota Camry car marked KTU 886 EZ at Igarra, Akoko Edo LGA.”

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.

The Star