The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a drug cartel led by a notorious baron and his sister, seizing cocaine and methamphetamine valued at over N4.1 billion. This major bust was revealed in a statement by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, and posted on the agency’s website on Sunday.
The operation, executed on June 13 and 14 in Aba, Abia State, resulted in the arrests of Kelechi Monday Nwaobasi, 49, and his sister, Chinwe Rose Nwaobasi, 50. Authorities confiscated 20.76 kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine from their hideouts.
The NDLEA’s extensive crackdown did not stop in Aba. In Lagos, operatives uncovered a warehouse filled with codeine-based syrup in the Comfort Oboh area of Kirikiri. Four individuals linked to the importation and distribution of the opioid were arrested. The raid yielded 82,000 bottles of the syrup, valued at over N600 million, alongside a Toyota Tacuma truck and two buses used for distribution.
Further operations in Lagos led to the interception of Ibrahim Abdulhamid on June 12, with 29,100 pills of tramadol, other opioids, and 3.9 liters of codeine syrup.
In Kano, on June 10, NDLEA officers apprehended two major drug distributors, Yasir Rabi’u and Abubakar Ado, with 230,600 tramadol pills. Another suspect, Hassan Abdullahi Ali, was caught with 150 bottles of codeine syrup the following day.
Meanwhile, in Ogun State, a June 10 raid in the Ibese area resulted in the seizure of 390 kilograms of cannabis and the arrest of three suspects. Two days later, a skuchies factory in Shagamu was busted, leading to the arrest of seven individuals and the recovery of various drugs and equipment.
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In Edo State, NDLEA operatives destroyed 10,534.78 kilograms of cannabis on a 4.2-hectare farm in Uhen forest on June 12, arresting four suspects and seizing 16 kilograms of processed cannabis.
Additional arrests included:
– Muhammad Abba and Samson Ehizogie in Abuja with 3,550 bottles of “Akuskura”, a new psychotropic substance.
– Emmanuel Ogechi in Benue State with 11,200 tramadol pills.
– Anayo Onwe in Anambra State with 62.4 kilograms of cannabis sativa and 1 kilogram of methamphetamine.
– Muhammed Musa in Kwara State with 33 kilograms of cannabis.
– Shokuro Adeola on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in Oyo State with 11.5 kilograms of cannabis.
