NDLEA Nabs Bandits In Ondo Forest With Explosives, Busts Crystal Meth Network

A 53-year-old physically challenged man, Ehiarimwiam Osaromo Emmanuel, has been nabbed by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos for drug trafficking.

On a Qatar Airways trip from Doha to Italy on August 28, Ehiarimwiam was detained. A native of Edo State’s Orhionmwon Local Government Area, he was discovered to have 5,000 Tramadol 225mg pills hidden in his baggage. The suspect is a regular traveler, according to preliminary inquiry, and frequently carries many bags filled with mostly food items, body lotion, hair accessories, and beverages.

According to reports, the suspect handed over his customary huge cargo for examination to NDLEA agents, but held onto a few parcels. These were taken from him and thoroughly investigated, which is how the narcotics were found. NDLEA agents conducted a raid on a rumored covert lab at Opic Estate, Agbara, Lagos, on Monday, August 29, as part of ongoing operations to demobilize and destroy all organized criminal gangs responsible for the manufacture and sale of crystal methamphetamine throughout the nation. Agents were able to find Peter James and part of the material by following clues from the residence to another one nearby. During a subsequent operation on the estate, Mathew Bobby Imonitie, a meth dealer, was also apprehended after being found in possession of 4.033 kilos of the drug.

As part of ongoing efforts to demobilise and dismantle all organised criminal groups behind the production and distribution of crystal methamphetamine across the country, NDLEA operatives on Monday 29th August raided a suspected clandestine laboratory at Opic estate, Agbara, Lagos. Clues from the property led operatives to another in the vicinity where one Peter James was apprehended with some quantity of the substance. A follow up operation within the estate also led to the arrest of a meth dealer, Mathew Bobby Imonitie, who was caught with 4.033kilograms of the illicit substance.

A raid at a rented apartment in Raji Rasaki First estate in Festac town, Lagos on Saturday 27th August led to the seizure of 412,780 tablets of Tramadol and the arrest of one of the suspects involved, Kingsley Duru.

In a similar vein, members of the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army have given over to the Lagos Command 792 blocks of cannabis sativa that were being smuggled into Ogun State from Ghana’s Volta area but were stopped at a checkpoint on the Ilaro-Benin Republic border. On Thursday, September 1, NDLEA agents in Niger state stopped a vehicle carrying animal supplies from Lagos to Kaduna that contained 450 compressed blocks and 111 bags of cannabis sativa totaling 1,531kg that belonged to a trader in Zaria. According to reports, the truck’s narcotics shipment was loaded at Akure, Ondo state. Yahaya Sani, the truck driver, Samaila Rabiu, his helper, and his motor boy

In Ondo, NDLEA operatives combing the Ala forest in Akure North LGA for a drug lord have intercepted eight suspected bandits terrorising farmers in the area. Those arrested include: Austin Dickson, 47, who is the gang leader; Sunday Adekunle, 31; Kayode Oluwaseun, 29; Kolawole Kazeem, 33; Oladimeji Makinde, 37; Emeka Charles, 46; Ojo Oluwadare, 40; and Lanre Oluwajana, 44.
The suspected bandits were nabbed on Friday, 2nd September 2022. Recovered from them include twenty five (25) bags of cannabis sativa weighing 296kgs; Six (6) explosive devices; six (6) cartridges; four (4) motorcycles and assorted charms used in terrorising farmers in the forest.

In Sokoto, operatives on Saturday 3rd Sept stopped a commercial bus from which two five CD loader players were recovered along Sokoto-Bodinga road. Upon search, 5.5kgs of cannabis were discovered inside the CD players and the owner, Nasiru Ibrahim arrested while in another bus, a suspected bandit Sani Ibrahim, 37 was arrested with some ammunition and cannabis sativa along Kware road.

An Abuja businesswoman, Onyinye Nwoke, 38, has been arrested following an intelligence-led raid at her residence, House 56 Aldenco Estate, Galadimawa where operatives uprooted fresh stems of cannabis plants grown at the backyard of the house. The uprooted plants weighed 18.4kgs while 800grams of cannabis seeds were also recovered from the house.

Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Niger, Sokoto, Ondo, FCT and Gombe Commands for the arrests and seizures. He charged them and their compatriots across the country to intensify the heat on drug cartels in Nigeria while balancing their efforts on supply reduction with drug demand reduction activities.