In a major operation conducted on New Year Day, on 1st of January 2024, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos intercepted a consignment of Colorado, a potent strain of cannabis.
The illicit substance was cleverly concealed in boxing kits that had been imported from the United States of America.
Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA Headquarters in Abuja, disclosed that a week-long intelligence-led operation was successfully concluded on Saturday, 6th of January.
The operation resulted in the tracking and arrest of Olorunfunmi Saheed Olakunle, a 38-year-old individual responsible for distributing the psychoactive substance to dealers across Lagos State.
The seized consignment, which arrived in the country on the 1st of January via an Egypt Airlines flight from Cairo, marked as boxing kits, weighed a total of 1.80 kilogramnes.
Saheed confessed that he routinely delivered such consignments on behalf of his childhood friend, Sagir Salami, based in the United States.
The latest shipment, according to Saheed, was part of a continuing arrangement with Salami and had a total weight of 1.80 kilogramnes.
In a coordinated series of raids conducted across Kaduna, Lagos, Niger, Kogi, Kano, Borno, and Osun states, NDLEA operatives arrested twelve individuals, including a 28-year-old female, Bilkisu Suleman.
Bilkisu was apprehended on the 3rd of January on the Zaria-Kano expressway, carrying 249 rounds of 7.62 mm live ammunition concealed in a black nylon bag within her handbag.
The arrest was made during her attempt to deliver the ammunition to an identified bandit in Kakumi village, Katsina state.
She was subsequently transferred to the Kaduna State Command of the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.
In a separate incident, military authorities at the Bonny Camp Cantonment in Lagos transferred a suspect, Francis Suru, aged 37, along with 63 jumbo bags of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 2,104.2 kilogrammes, and a truck to the Lagos State Command of NDLEA.
The suspect and the drug exhibits were initially intercepted by NDLEA officers on the 12th of December 2023, near the gate of the military cantonment in Bonny Camp, Victoria Island.
Additional operations in Niger, Kano, Borno, and Osun led to the arrest of suspects and the interception of various quantities of cannabis.
Notably, NDLEA operatives in Osun intercepted a consignment of illicit drugs sent via waybill from Lagos to Osogbo, resulting in the arrest of Ibrahim Olawale, aged 43.
Seized drugs included cannabis sativa (10.8kg), Loud (150 grams), Colorado (19 grams), and Molly (5 grams), totaling 10.974kg.
The operation also yielded the confiscation of a digital scale, a monetary exhibit of N18,000, and customized wrapping papers for Colorado.
In addition to these enforcement actions, NDLEA Commands across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization efforts, conducting lectures in schools, communities, workplaces, and other public spaces.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), commended the arrests and seizures, urging officers across all formations to remain vigilant and enhance efforts in drug demand reduction and supply reduction throughout the new year.
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