Three major illicit drug syndicates were taken down by operatives of a special unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in intelligence-led operations across parts of Lagos state, leading to the arrest of a baroness and four other kingpins with multi-billion naira worth of Cocaine, Opioids and Loud recovered from their hideouts.
Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Femi Babafemi announced this on Sunday in a statement.
Babafemi said a female head of one of the syndicates, Faith Ebele Nwankwo, was arrested on Wednesday 9th August at her residence, House 6, C close, 3rd Avenue, Festac area of Lagos shortly after she returned from a warehouse at Plot 3432 Sola Akinsola Street, Divine Estate, Amuwo Odofin where she loaded eight cartons of tramadol 225mg into an unmarked white Honda Pilot SUV.
According to the statement, a search of her residence and the warehouse led to the recovery of 2,750,000 pills of Tramaking, a brand of tramadol 225mg and 250mg, packed in 39 cartons weighing 1,916 kilograms.
The statement reads, “A body search conducted on the two suspects led to the recovery of Three Thousand ($3,000) US Dollars found on Udeh Vincent Ogbonna.
“In operations across four other states of Ogun, Ondo, Edo and Nasarawa, NDLEA operatives recovered over 13,391.8 kilograms of skunk. No fewer than 1,955kgs of the illicit substance packed in 139 jumbo bags and stored in the warehouse of a wanted notorious drug dealer, Lekan Jimoh (aka Konmo Konmo) in Ado Odo Ota area of Ogun state were recovered in the early hours of Saturday 12th August in collaboration with officers and men of the Nigerian Army.
“In Ondo, Ogbu Paul Odey, 30; Daniel Osidi, 34; John Iyage, 41; Friday Simon, 28; and Friday James, 24, were arrested in connection with the seizure and/or destruction of over 10,325.5kgs of cannabis sativa in Iju and Ala forests, in Akure area of the state between Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th August.
“In an earlier operation in Utese forest on Tuesday 8th August, at least 46.545kgs of skunk were recovered and 1.581146 hectares of cannabis farms destroyed.
“In his reaction to the clinical dismantling of the three drug syndicates and arrest of their kingpins, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers and men of the Special Unit for being pro-active and pragmatic in the operations.
“He also applauded their colleagues in Ogun, Ondo, Edo and Nasarawa Commands as well as those of DOGI for their zeal and professionalism. He charged them and their compatriots across the country to remain vigilant and focused.”
