Seventy three suspects who specialise in
cultivating and dealing in cannabis have been arrested by the National
Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
The suspects made up of 60 males and 13
females were apprehended in Edo State with 10,094.75kgs of cannabis
between January and March 2016.
A statement by NDLEA spokesperson, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, released on Thursday, described how the cannabis hauls were seized.
He said, “A cannabis laden Toyota Hilux
and a J5 bus with cannabis disguised as pineapple shipment were
impounded, while a warehouse located at the Okpuje forest, Owan West
Local Government Area of Edo State, was detected and 2,590kgs of
cannabis were seized.
“Four notorious drug dealers at Ekpoma,
Auchi and Benin as well as five young farmers from Taraba and Plateau
States are among those being investigated for cannabis cultivation and
trafficking by narcotic undercover operatives in Benin City. The Edo
State Command exhibit room is already filled to capacity with over
80,000kgs of cannabis.”
According to the Edo State Commander of the NDLEA, Mr. Buba Wakawa, efforts are ongoing to sanitise Edo of illicit drugs.
Wakama said a fake State Security
Service identity card with the name Daniel Okolo was found in the Hilux
van which was loaded with cannabis.
One of the arrested cannabis dealing
suspects include a 60-year-old woman, Juliana Ogiefa, who is on bail
after her arrest for dealing in cocaine and heroin.
The NDLEA said it is pressing two
separate charges against her at the Federal High Court sitting in Benin
with the hope that her illicit drug activities in the state would be
permanently terminated.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that in a
forest at Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State, where NDLEA
officials seized 2,590kgs of cannabis, an official narrowly escaped a
large trap that had been set on the ground by the cannabis dealers.
The Chairman of NDLEA, Muhammad Abdallah, has vowed to identify, arrest and prosecute cannabis cultivators.
“Edo State is a cannabis producing
state. It is equally an important catchment area to us because it is
strategically located in a way that drug dealers either come to buy or
convey their illicit drugs across the state. This must come to an end,”
Abdallah warned.
He warned against the use of school age
youths in cannabis plantations and called for the support of
stakeholders at all levels in the anti-narcotics campaign.
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