By Daniel Edu
A 45-year-old woman, Bilkisu Mohammed Bello, was apprehended by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) operatives at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano. Bello was caught in possession of 52 pellets of cocaine as she prepared to board a Saudia Airlines flight to Saudi Arabia.
Femi Babafemi, the Agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, confirmed the arrest in a statement released on Tuesday. According to Babafemi, Bello confessed during interrogation that she had swallowed the cocaine pellets before her flight and had stored additional pellets in a house in the Farawa area of Kano. NDLEA officers subsequently recovered 52 wraps of the illicit substance weighing a total of 767 grams from the specified location.
In separate incidents, the NDLEA made several arrests and drug seizures. Auwal Bindow was apprehended along the Bauchi-Gombe road with 50,000 capsules of tramadol. In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives patrolling the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway arrested Anuoluwapo Blessing Iyanu, 32, with 52 blocks of compressed pawpaw-shaped cannabis sativa weighing 30kg.
Furthermore, a joint operation involving NDLEA officers, Nigerian Army personnel, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and Amotekun personnel was conducted in James Town, Ogunmakin, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State. The team located and destroyed 10.38 tonnes of cannabis sativa covering over 4.152 hectares. During the operation, a truck carrying a 40ft container loaded with wood logs was intercepted, leading to the discovery of two bags of cannabis sativa weighing 20kg. Six suspects were arrested in connection with the find.
Additionally, NDLEA operatives raided Obi camp in Owan West LGA, Edo state, where 30 sacks of skunk weighing 300kg, concealed in charcoal, were seized from an old dilapidated mud house. In a related operation, two cannabis farms measuring 1.179065 hectares in Igbanke forest, Orhiowon local government area of Edo state, were identified and destroyed. Four suspects were arrested during this operation: Tersoo Zaria, 28; Ifeanyi Osai, 53; Moses David, 19, and Daniel Gabriel, 20.
