Pastor Arrested With 181 Bags of Indian Hemp in Osun

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Osun has arrested a pastor and a 27-year-old man with 181 bags of cannabis sativa popularly known as Indian hemp.

The sector commander of the Agency, Anthonia Edeh, made this known on Friday while addressing newsmen in Osogbo.

According to Edeh, the 45-year-old pastor, and one other person were arrested at Ikire in Irewole Local Government Area of the state on Dec. 5, with the illicit weed weighing 1,838.4 kilogramme.

“Men of the command swooped into action based on the information received from patriotic Nigerians and arrested the two suspects in a three rooms apartment, where the bags of Indian hemp were stocked,” she said.

She added that two of the bags were full with cannabis seeds, which the suspects wanted to keep for the next planting season.

The commander also revealed that three others suspects, including a woman escaped arrest.

She said, “Efforts are on to nab the fleeing culprits, though the pastor is claiming innocence of the crime saying that he was only a co-tenant of the other suspect.

“The agency has no constitutional power to exonerate him, only the court has the power and the two men will be arraigned soon,” she said.

Edeh further said that men of the command recovered 68.8 kilogramme of Indian hemp, stocked inside a Volkswagen Vento car marked AW 652 AKR, on Dec. 2, along Ilobu Road in Osogbo.

She said that the owner of the car, who was on the road side waiting for suspected buyer took to his heels when sighted men of the command.

The commander admonished the general public to be conscious of their environment and report the activities of drug peddlers or traffickers to the security operatives.

She reiterated the commitment of the agency to put an end to the cultivation, trafficking and peddling of Indian hemp across the state, and urged the people to cooperate with the agency in the drug war crusade.

She also cautioned commercial drivers to beware of the loads they carry “now that we are at the peak of harvesting period”. (NAN)

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Grandpa and pregnant’ lady caught with hard drugs in Abuja Airport

Matthew Obisesan, 63, and two others were arrested by law enforcement agents at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja for allegedly trafficking in hard drugs. CRIME DIGEST learnt that Obisesan allegedly tested positive to drug ingestion during the outward clearance of passengers on a British Airways flight to Heathrow airport in London. 

Obisesan, whose real name is Yusuf Yakub, claimed he was lured into the drug trade with a promise of N700,000, which he could not resist. “I have three wives and many children. My business is also not doing well. I need money to take care of my family, hence I decided to smuggle the drugs for a fee of N700, 000, but I regret my action now,” he allegedly told his interrogators. Two other suspected drug traffickers, Amaso Arovo, 44, and Sade Aminu, 40, were arrested after they were found in possession of 1.50kg and 1.05kg of cocaine respectively. 

Aminu said it was her first time to peddle hard drugs. She said, “I am a trader. I was lured into drug trafficking. This is my first time. I have never smuggled drugs in my life. They promised to pay me £4,000.” The Abuja Airport Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Mr. Hamisu Lawan, confirmed the arrests, adding that all the suspects were detected with the aid of scanning machines. He said that the only female suspect, Aminu, caused a stir by refusing to go through the scanning machine on the grounds of pregnancy.

 He said, “The arrests were made possible by the body scanning machine during screening of passengers at the central screening area. Sade refused to go through the scan during screening. “She insisted that she was pregnant and that the scan would harm her unborn baby. However, while she was under observation, she excreted wraps of cocaine weighing 1.05kg. When eventually she was made to undergo a pregnancy test, the result was negative. “Preliminary investigation shows that (Matthew Olabanji) Obisesan, whose real name is Yusuf Yakub, is a resident of Kwara State but lives in Ibadan. 

(Arovo Moses) Amaso was on his way to Madrid through London Heathrow on the same British Airways flight with Obisesan. “Alhaja (Aminu Modinat) Sade, a divorcee and the only female was however arrested on her way to London through Frankfurt on a Lufthansa flight LH 563. All the suspects have owned up to the crime and are cooperating with team of investigators.” Chairman/Chief Executive of the anti-drug agency, Ahmadu Giade, expressed concern over the state of moral corruption exhibited by the suspects and warned drug traffickers to prepare for arrest and prosecution. 

Giade said, “The suspects’ level of depravity is worrisome. In particular, the case of the grandfather calls for a mass action against drug cartels. The agency has functional scanners at all the international airports in the country and is determined to stop drug traffickers. Drug barons that are planning to smuggle drugs must therefore prepare for arrest and prosecution. 

The battle line is long drawn and we shall continue to arrest them.” The NDLEA boss called on members of the public to report suspected cases of drug trafficking to the agency. While calling for more public support, Giade gave assurance that the agency would always respond speedily to information received. All the suspects will soon be arraigned in court.

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NDLEA intercepts container with N2.2bn heroin

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a container that arrived in Nigeria from Islamabad in Pakistan with 11.3 kilograms of heroin valued at N2.2 billion.

Todaysgist gathered that the container, which was cleared by men of the Nigeria Customs Service at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos, was trailed to Okota by operatives of the agency where the driver was arrested and the truck conveying the container taken to Ikoyi office of the agency.

The drugs were found stacked in three moulding machines industrially concealed in the 20 feet container that arrived in the seaport.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, who confirmed the incident, said British anti-narcotics agents alerted his agency about the movement of the container that led to placing his special detectives on the trail of the consignment until it arrived in the seaport.

“The agency is worried over frantic efforts by drug cartels in the world to use the Nigerian seaports to smuggle large shipments of narcotics into the country. This seizure of large quantity of heroin made by the agency was made possible in collaboration with the British authorities. The unadulterated heroin weighing 113.49 kilograms was industrially concealed in three moulding machines imported from Islamabad, Pakistan in a 20 feet container.

“The drugs were in a total of 109 wraps stocked inside some tunnels of the machines and sealed industrially.”

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Man arrested with cocaine on Super Eagles flight for trial

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it was set to prosecute Okorafor Chijioke Daniel, the man caught with two kilograms of cocaine on Spain-bound Iberia flight conveying Super Eagles players on Saturday.

The agency in a statement by the head of public affairs, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, said the 45-year-old Daniel was arrested by operatives of the agency at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

Ofoyeju stated that the 2 kilograms of the whitish substance that tested positive to cocaine were found concealed in the souls of 3 pairs of shoes contained in a bag that allegedly belong to Daniel who was also a passenger in the flight.

He said the suspect has volunteered a written statement to the agency admitting ownership of the drugs and would be charged to a court of competent jurisdiction with unlawful exportation and possession of cocaine under Section 11 subsections ‘b’ and ‘d’ of the NDLEA Act while the recovered drugs would be tendered as exhibits.

In his statement, the Ebonyi State born suspect, confessed that he was forced into drug trafficking by unfriendly circumstances of life.”

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NDLEA makes single largest cannabis(Weed) seizure

The Federal Capital Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has made its single biggest seizure of illicit drugs since its inception.The 179 bags of weeds suspected to be cannabis sativa weighing 1660 kilograms (1.660 tonnes) were seized from one Endurance Isibor, according to Deputy Commander of Narcotics (DCN) Obiefule Dennis Chidi.

While parading the suspect, the head of the FCT command of the NDLEA said the drugs that were seized on the 1^st of May originated from Edo state.

“From January till date, the command arrested a total of 87 suspects”, said Chidi.  “Within the same period, the command seized a total of 1798.96kg (1.799 tonnes) of cannabis sativa, 1.27kg of cocaine and 5.20kg of psychotropic substances.  Worthy of mention is the seizure of 1.10 kilograms of powdery substance suspected to be cocaine imported from Trinida and Tobago in March 2012. Two suspects were arrested in the Federal Capital territory, Abuja in connection with the seizure while a third was arrested in Lagos. They are presently being prosecuted”

He said drug abuse is a “major threat to security because there is hardly any violent crime committed without the influence of drugs.”

Apart from recording twenty seven convictions, the NDLEA commandant said his command has treated and rehabilitated fifteen drug-dependent persons since the beginning of the year.

He called on the general public to partner with the Agency in combating drug trafficking.

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Spanish authorities arrest 15 in Nigerian drug cartel raid

A total of 15 people were arrested by Spanish police for their involvement in smuggling hard drugs into Spain and other European countries. Most of the people arrested are Nigerian citizens, and are part of a drug cartel run by Nigerians based in the Madrid surbub of Alcala de Henares have been under police investigation for about a year.

“These people had been sent by the organisation to Madrid to collect cocaine from other members of the ring which based in Alcala de Henares. From there they would also send mules to South America and Africa to collect the drug,” a police statement said.

 Spain has become a major gateway into Europe for drug traffickers.

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