The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Mohammed Sani, alias Gamboli, a notorious supplier of illicit drugs to bandits in Niger State, following a three-week manhunt.
Sani, who initially escaped a November 20 raid on his home where 471.8 kilograms of skunk were recovered, was apprehended on December 11 at a hideout in Anguwan Fadama, Kuta, based on processed intelligence linking him to bandit operations in the Shiroro local government area.
In a similar crackdown on opioid distribution, the NDLEA spokesman, Mt. Femi Babafemi in a statement says, operatives raided a clandestine codeine syrup factory in Osisioma, Abia State, recovering 9,015 bottles weighing 1,152.2kg.
This was complemented by a major interception at the Apapa seaport in Lagos on December 13, where officers, in collaboration with the Customs Service, seized a container holding 170,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 23,579kg.
The agency’s nationwide offensive yielded further significant results in Ondo State, where a 55-year-old woman, Veronica Obi, and her son were arrested with 1,187 kilograms of skunk.
Widespread raids across Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos states resulted in the apprehension of multiple suspects and the seizure of hundreds of kilograms of cannabis and thousands of tramadol pills.
While in Lagos operatives intercepted consignments of pharmaceutical opioids concealed in local black soap and designer wear destined for the US, Canada, and Sweden.
Reporting By Nosa Aituamen