The unlawful narcotics shipment, which weighed 30.10 kilogrammes and had a street value of N567 million, was found and taken by NDLEA agents on May 16 at the airport.
A statement signed by Femi Babafemi, spokesperson of the anti-narcotic agency on Sunday, said this was swiftly followed by a series of follow-up operations that led to the arrest of a goods agent, Nwobodo Chidiebere; a female suspect, Chioma Lucy and the alleged y the drug lord behind the shipment, Charles Ezeh, who was arrested at Sotel Suites, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos on Thursday, May 18.
“Ezeh claims to be a businessman and deal in products in Onitsha, Anambra State, but investigations show he lived in London with his wife and children up until December 10, 2022, when he fled to Nigeria as a result of his involvement in a drug-related crime there.
The statement read, “Though he claimed to have been living in hotels since his return to Nigeria last December, operatives were nevertheless able to locate his mansion at No. 1 Hawawu Abikan Street, Lekki, where a search was conducted and his travel and property documents, among other things, were recovered.
Prince Uzoma, 32, a suspected drug dealer, was detained by NDLEA agents in Adamawa on Monday, May 15, along with 1kg of hashish.
Ikechukwu had already been detained twice and found guilty of the same crime. He received a six-month prison sentence in 2017 and was once more given a two-year sentence in 2019. In the same vein, a trans-border trafficker named Faisal Mohammed, 27, was detained on May 17 in Mubi when a truck from Onitsha, Anambra State, was intercepted. Three blue rubber Jerrycans hidden inside the trailer’s body contained 2,376 tramadol sachets totalling 23,760 pills. The suspect acknowledged that the opioid was going to Cameroon.
“In Oyo state, two suspects, Osas Susan, 35, and Thomas Biodun, 23, were detained with 2.13 kg of cannabis at Igbon, Gambari in Ogbomoso North LGA while Idris Muhammed, 55, was taken into custody with 4,500 tramadol pills when a commercial bus carrying him and other passengers was stopped and searched along the Lagos-Ibadan motorway.
Similar to how Shehu Muhammed Dandare, 25, was caught at Maraban Jos, in the state’s Igabi local government area, Bulus Mikah, 63, was also detained there with over 5 kg of opioids, including tramadol, diazepam, Rohypnol, and excel-5.
“While operatives stormed and destroyed a 1.5-hectare cannabis farm in Uhodoua Forest, Esan South East LGA, Edo state, recovering 552 kg of cannabis from a warehouse hidden in a bush, 10 suspects were apprehended with 5.587 kg of cannabis sativa, 144.4 grammes of methamphetamine, and 48,260 tramadol capsules on May 19 in various locations in Onitsha, Anambra state.
“Two suspects from Kwara, Mohammed Isa, 47, and Mohammed Haman, 36, were detained on May 19 on a commercial bus while en route to Maiduguri in Borno state with 6 kg of cannabis, 50 g of methamphetamine, and 20 sets of military camouflage hats and uniforms. On the same day, Jigawa state agents apprehended 53-year-old Ibrahim Abdullahi with 120kg of cannabis in Sara town, Gwaram LGA.
When agents searched a drug den at Idanre, where four suspects were detained, they found “not less than 628 bottles of new psychoactive substance, scrunchies. Olamide Olusola, age 26; Abiodun Tijjani, age 21; Fatope Temidayo, age 29; Agba Obi, age 30; and Olafisoye Festus, age 26, are among them. In the same vein, suspect Kayode Hakeem, 22, was detained with 293 blocks of marijuana totalling 211.6kg in Hawan Dawaki, Kano.
“Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, has praised the officers and men of MMIA command for their professionalism and quickness in locating and apprehending another drug lord, Ezeh Chinedu Charles. He urged them, along with their coworkers in Adamawa, Oyo, Kaduna, Edo, Kwara, Jigawa, Ondo, and Kano, as well as those in other commands and formations across the nation, not to let their guard down, according to the statement.
