NDLEA arrests Chinese, 80-year-old grandma, others for drug peddling 

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Chinese businessman, Liang Tak You, and an 80-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Grace Ekpeme, during a nationwide operation that uncovered consignments of Colorado— a synthetic cannabis strain—stuffed in moimoi sachets, and Canadian Loud concealed in imported canned food items.

This was according to a statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA,  Femi Babafemi, in Abuja, on Sunday.

Babafemi, in the statement, noted that Liang was arrested at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on Friday, following actionable intelligence.

“The suspect, who arrived in Nigeria from Bangkok via Dubai on an Emirates Airlines flight, is a Chinese national, naturalised and based in Malaysia. “He reportedly travelled to Thailand to pick up two suitcases containing 50 parcels of Loud, weighing 26.10kg, before flying to Nigeria”, Babafemi stated.

He explained that NDLEA operatives, who had been tracking Tak You from his port of departure, allowed him to pass through immigration and other airport protocols before arresting him on his way out of the airport.

“In a separate incident, the octogenarian, Mrs. Grace Ekpeme, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday, July 26, at Edet-Nsa Street, Base Site, Calabar South, Cross River State, with over 3kg of skunk, following intelligence reports on her drug trafficking activities.

“Also in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday, July 23, intercepted a suspect, Chidi Agbafo, along the Epe–Ajah Expressway while transporting consignments of 21.7kg of Colorado—some of which were packaged in moimoi cooking sachets—and 3.8 litres of codeine-based syrup in a commercial bus en route to Warri and Oghara in Delta State

At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, a joint examination by NDLEA officers, Customs personnel, and other security agencies on Friday, July 25, uncovered 101kg of Canadian Loud. The drugs were factory-packed in 202 tins of imported food items labelled ‘Bean Salad Mix’ and concealed in two Toyota Sienna buses inside a container that originated from Canada”, the statement added.

Meanwhile, on the Abuja-Kaduna highway, NDLEA operatives on patrol on Wednesday, July 23, “arrested one Usman Musa with 71,000 pills of opioids—including tramadol, diazepam, and Exol-5—while travelling in a commercial bus headed to Kano.”

He added, “In Borno State, a 30-year-old woman, Binta Usman, was arrested on the same day at her residence in the Muna Moforo area of Maiduguri, where 30.1kg of skunk was recovered. A follow-up operation on Friday, July 25, led to the arrest of her accomplice, Bala Abdullahi, in the same area.

“Three brothers—Nanna, Chizom, and Maxwell Ozirinye—were arrested on Saturday, July 26, when NDLEA operatives raided a cannabis plantation at Bending Corner Forest, Idoani, Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State. There, they destroyed 2,500kg of skunk cultivated on a hectare of land and recovered 121.4kg of already processed cannabis.

“In Edo State, NDLEA officers on Wednesday, July 23, raided Asakpa Community in Benin City, arresting a 26-year-old woman, Bright Sunday Okon. Various quantities of Colorado, Loud, Arizona, skunk, and methamphetamine were recovered from her residence.

Additionally, 105.4kg of skunk was recovered from an abandoned Honda car with registration number ABC 204 KM in Keffi, Nasarawa State. In Niger State, a suspect, Bashir Abdullahi, was arrested on Monday, July 21, with 6,400 pills of 225mg tramadol at the Kasuwan Gwari area of Minna. In Ogun State, a notorious drug dealer, Jamiu Omolaja, was taken into custody, and 113kg of skunk was seized from his hideout in Ifo on Thursday, July 24, after violent resistance from his gang.”

Continuing, the NDLEA spokesperson noted, “In Gombe State, NDLEA officers on Saturday, July 26, arrested Adamu Adamu, a.k.a. “Dankyado,” along the Gombe–Bajoga road, with 10,910 capsules of tramadol.

Similarly, operatives in Kogi State on Thursday, July 24, intercepted a consignment of skunk concealed in garri, dried scent leaves, and other food items along the Okene–Lokoja highway. A follow-up operation in Abuja led to the arrest of a 27-year-old suspect, Kindness Bala, who had planned to transport the drugs to Katsina State and then to Qatar.

“On Saturday, July 26, Kogi State Command recovered 23,600 pills of tramadol, 300 ampoules of pentazocine injection, and 700 grams of skunk from a truck at a motor park in the Ayingba area of the state.”

However, he noted that advocacy activities under the NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse campaign continued across the country. Sensitisation lectures were delivered at Komu/Babaode High School, Babaode, Itesiwaju LGA, Oyo State; Beacon Christian Academy, Ngodo, Afikpo LGA, Ebonyi State; Government Day Secondary School, Araba, Illela, Sokoto State; and Government Junior College, Agege, Lagos. The Anambra State Command also paid WADA advocacy visits to the traditional rulers of Awka and Ukpo communities, Obi Gibson Nwosu (Ezeuzu II) and Igwe Robert Eze (Okofia VI), respectively.

He also noted that while commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Apapa, Lagos, Cross River, Edo, Ondo, Nasarawa, Borno, Niger, Ogun, Gombe, Kaduna, and Kogi Commands for the arrests and seizures, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised all commands nationwide for balancing efforts on drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction.