In recent days, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully carried out interdiction operations in Lagos, Adamawa, and Osun, resulting in the seizure of no less than 4,560 kilograms of skunk.
Additionally, NDLEA operatives raided a skucchies factory in Ogun, apprehending four members of a drug syndicate. Among the arrested individuals are two church officials, a female staff member of a courier company, and another lady involved in trafficking the dangerous opioid, fentanyl, in Delta.
According to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, these actions are part of a series of clampdowns executed by the anti-narcotics agency over the past week. He highlighted the recent bust of a fentanyl cartel operating in Warri, Delta State. This operation comes just a month after the arrest of two members of another syndicate involved in the distribution of this highly potent drug.
Babafemi revealed that two officials from Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministries in Warri, Delta State, Adewale Ayeni (39) and Ebipakebina Appeal (41), were linked to intercepted shipments of the illicit drug and have since been arrested. Ayeni is associated with the church’s prayer call center, while Ebipakebina handles the transportation of international guests from the airport to the church. Two female accomplices, Naomi David (28), a staff member of United Parcel Services (UPS), and Stacy Njideka (27), also known as Nkiruka, a business associate of Ayeni, were also apprehended in Warri.
In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a Toyota Hilux vehicle carrying 544 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 408 kilograms. The drugs were concealed within 118 cartons of Indomie Noodles packs and were intended for distribution in Yola, Mubi, and Gombe. The occupants of the vehicle, Kelvin Efe (51) and Christian Ogaga (42), were arrested.
In Lagos, a suspect named Segun Odeyemi was arrested with a truck containing 89 jumbo bags of skunk weighing a total of 3,842 kilograms in the Eleganza area of Ajah, Lekki. Furthermore, in Osun State, an abandoned J5 Peugeot bus was found along the Akure-Ilesa expressway. The bus concealed 25 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 300.5 kilograms beneath bags of fresh pepper. The occupants of the vehicle fled upon sighting NDLEA officers on patrol.
Lastly, NDLEA operatives raided a skucchies factory in Ajaka Sagamu, Ogun State, resulting in the arrest of a suspect named Adekunle Adekola. The operation yielded various exhibits, including cannabis, skucchies, codeine, deep freezers, a generator set, and gas cylinders.
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd), commended the team involved in tracking the fentanyl opioid syndicate in Nigeria and praised the officers in Adamawa, Lagos, Osun, and Ogun for their recent arrests and seizures. He urged them and their colleagues across the country to remain focused on the goal of eliminating substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.