EbonyHerald Stores Ebony Herald News24
NDLEA bursts drug-laden shrine secured by snakes
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) busted a snake-guarded shrine used to store illicit drugs in the Igor community of Benin City, Edo State.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the anti-narcotics agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA operatives discovered a specially constructed large hole in a wall covered with wallpaper and fetish objects.
During a raid on the shrine, different quantities of illicit substances such as methamphetamine, Loud, Colorado, and Arizona, all strong strains of cannabis with a total weight of 8.743 kilogrammes, were pulled out from the deep hole dug in the shrine’s wall.
He stated that at least two women, Sonia Ezumezu and Risikatu Tijani, were apprehended during the intelligence-led operation last Tuesday after the large black snake guarding the shrine was demobilized.
He also stated that two suspects, Obi Ferguson, 45, and Ernest Abanum, 46, were arrested on Saturday after NDLEA agents raided the Usen forest in Edo state’s Ovia South West local government area and discovered 209 kilogrammes of cannabis and a motorbike.
In another crackdown, NDLEA officers in Lagos seized a carefully packaged shipment of 8.2 kilogrammes of methamphetamine at a motor park in Mazamaza, Ojo.
He claimed that the highly addictive illegal substance, also known as ice or crystal meth, was wrapped in imported Dunkin’ Donuts turtle love chocolate wrappers and then hidden inside the casing of three loudspeakers.
He revealed that Michael Odiomume, a 39-year-old suspect who was transporting the shipment to Owerri, Imo State, was apprehended last Wednesday at the park.
Last Tuesday, operatives in Abuja intercepted a white Nissan Frontier pick-up truck with amber lights and a fake registration number belonging to a security agency in Kiyi village, Kuje area, FCT.
He stated that the vehicle was loaded with 454 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 340.8 kilogrammes purchased in Uzeba, Edo State.
He said a 76-year-old grandfather, Mr. Francis Omofa, who claimed to have been in the illegal drug business for ten years and was linked to the consignment, was arrested.
Babafemi stated that the agency’s commands and formations throughout the country have continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities, among other places, over the last week.
Meanwhile, while congratulating the officers and men of the Edo, Lagos, and FCT commands, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) praised the balance of their drug supply and demand reduction efforts, as well as those of their compatriots across the country.
He did, however, charge them with continuing the offensive action against drug cartels as they intensified their war on drug abuse, WADA, and social advocacy campaign.
