A 33-year-old suspected drug courier, Eze Prince Emeka, has excreted 45 pellets of cocaine after he was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) along the Ibadan/Oyo expressway.
The suspect was intercepted on Tuesday, 21 April, during a stop-and-search operation at Akinyele in Ibadan, Oyo State, while travelling in a commercial bus marked MNA 963 ZY en route Sokoto.
A body scan later confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs, leading to his placement under close observation.
Confirming the development, NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday, said the suspect eventually excreted 45 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.043 kilogrammes in three stages.
Babafemi disclosed that the suspect, who claimed to be a businessman based in Sokoto, opted for road travel to evade airport screening. Investigations further revealed that upon reaching Sokoto, he was to excrete the drugs, rest for a few days, and re-ingest them for onward trafficking through trans-Saharan routes via Algeria to Europe.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives in Edo State intercepted a truck marked NLC 146 FC along the Benin/Lagos expressway on Saturday, 25 April, conveying 1,196,000 pills of pharmaceutical opioids. Two suspects, Osagie Igbinibo, 43, and Omijie Malik, 44, were arrested in connection with the consignment bound for Onitsha, Anambra State.
Similarly, a suspect, Rasheed Ibuowo, 40, was apprehended at Mile 2 in Lagos with 810 kilogrammes of Arizona, a strain of cannabis, while another suspect, Muktar Bello, 35, was arrested in Bauchi State with 288 blocks of skunk weighing 154.5 kilogrammes along the Misau road in Azare/Katagun Local Government Area.
In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives recovered 466.8 kilogrammes of skunk from the residence of a suspect, Layit John Matthew, 56, in Isinbode-Ekiti. The drugs were reportedly being prepared for onward movement to Yola, Adamawa State.
The agency also recorded a major cannabis destruction exercise in Cross River State, where no fewer than 20,000 kilogrammes of the substance were destroyed on eight hectares of farmland in Uyanga community, Akamkpa Local Government Area. During the raid, supported by military personnel, 170 kilogrammes of processed cannabis was also recovered.
In another development, NDLEA operatives in Niger State intercepted 394 pieces of improvised explosive device (IED) components from a 26-year-old suspect, Mohammed Aliyu, along the Kontagora/Zuru road.
He was reportedly conveying the materials in a Toyota vehicle marked KNT 617 AE to Shadadi in Mariga Local Government Area. The suspect and exhibits are to be handed over to the appropriate security agency for further investigation.
Meanwhile, the agency intensified its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign across the country, with awareness programmes held in schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities in states including Niger, Kano, Katsina, Lagos and Nasarawa.
Commending officers and men of the agency across the affected commands for their efforts, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), urged them to sustain the momentum in balancing drug supply reduction with preventive advocacy.
