By Lizzy Chirkpi
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested three persons with disabilities (PWDs) for alleged drug trafficking in separate operations across Anambra and Kwara states, while also uncovering a massive ₦5.8 billion stash of imported cannabis, popularly known as Loud, in Lekki, Lagos.
According to the Director Mediaand Advocacy Femi Babafemi , “a 60-year-old suspect, Romanus Nwabara, was arrested on May 6 at Akpaka Forest in Onitsha, Anambra State, after operatives acting on intelligence allegedly recovered 250 grams of skunk packaged in retail sachets from him.”
In another raid at Ogbunike, Anambra State, NDLEA officers arrested 25-year-old Amos Kenneth with various illicit substances, including Tramadol, Diazepam, Exol-5, and skunk.
The agency also disclosed that operatives on patrol along Bode Saadu in Kwara State intercepted a commercial vehicle on May 8, where another PWD suspect, Usman Salisu, was allegedly found with 6.3 kilograms of skunk concealed inside a brown school bag.
In what officials described as one of the biggest seizures in recent months, operatives of the NDLEA Special Operations Unit raided a mansion at Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, being used as a stash house.
The operation led to the recovery of 4,000 parcels of Loud weighing 2,326 kilograms, with an estimated street value of over ₦5.815 billion.
The agency said two Mercedes-Benz buses and designer packaging materials used for retail distribution of the illicit drugs were also recovered from the property located on African Lane, Lekki.
Elsewhere, NDLEA operatives arrested a suspect identified as Emmanuel Osita Okeke in Nyanya-Karu, Nasarawa State, with 129 kilograms of skunk.
Along the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State, officers intercepted a commuter bus heading to Abuja and recovered 76 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 766 kilograms.
Three suspects — Mathew Omohove, Ebuka Desmond, and Babangida Musa — were arrested in connection with the seizure.
The agency also uncovered a makeshift “skuchies” production factory in the Ijora Badia area of Lagos, where two suspects, Bose Jamiu and Gbenga Gege, were allegedly caught producing the drug mixture.
NDLEA said operatives recovered 270 litres of already processed skuchies and 106 grams of Tramadol 225mg during the raid.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations across Lagos, Anambra, Kwara, Kogi, and Nasarawa states.
He praised their “drug supply reduction efforts balanced with WADA sensitization activities” and urged them “to maintain the current tempo.”
The agency added that its commands across the country also intensified War Against Drug Abuse enlightenment campaigns in schools, communities, workplaces, and religious centres during the past week