•Arrests two suspects, 76-year-old grandfather in Abuja
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have raided a shrine used to store illicit drugs in Igor community, Benin City, Edo State.
The Guardian learnt that during the raid, the operatives detected a large specially constructed storage hole in a wall covered with wallpapers and fetish objects.
Different quantities of illicit substances such as methamphetamine, Loud, Colorado and Arizona, all strong strains of cannabis, with a total weight of 8.743kg, were pulled out from the hole.
Confirming the development in a statement yesterday, spokesperson for the agency, Femi Babafemi, said two ladies: Sonia Chinonso Ezumezu and Risikatu Tijani, were arrested during the intelligence-led operation on Tuesday, June 18, after a big black snake guarding the shrine was demobilised.
In the same vein, two suspects: Obi Ferguson, 45, and Ernest Abanum, 46, were arrested on Saturday, June 22, when NDLEA operatives raided Usen forest, in Ovia South West Local Council of Edo State and recovered 209kg cannabis and a motorcycle.
Also, NDLEA officers in Lagos intercepted a carefully packaged consignment of 8.2kg of methamphetamine at a motor park in Mazamaza, in the Ojo area of the state.
The highly addictive substance, also called ice or crystal meth, was packed in imported Dunkin’ Turtle Love chocolate wraps and concealed in the casing of three loud speakers.
A 39-year-old suspect, Michael Odiomume, who was sending the consignment to Owerri, Imo State, was arrested on Wednesday, June 19, at the park.
In Abuja, operatives on Tuesday, June 18, intercepted a white Nissan Frontier pick-up vehicle with amber lights and the fake registration number of a security agency. This was at Kiyi village in the Kuje area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The vehicle was loaded with 454 compressed blocks of Cannabis sativa, weighing 340.8kg, procured at Uzeba, Edo State.
A 76-year-old grandfather, Mr Francis Omofa, linked to the consignment, was arrested. He claimed he had been in the illicit drug business for 10 years.
