By Sunday Oyinloye
Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has broken own record with the biggest singular cocaine seizure in the history of the country.
Operatives of the anti-narcotic Agency busted a major warehouse in a secluded estate in Ikorodu area of Lagos where 1.8tons (1,855 kilograms) of the illicit drug worth more than $278, 250,000 equivalent of about N194billion in street value were seized.
In a Press Release made available to Green Savannah Diplomatic Cable by Director, Media & Advocacy of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi at least, four drug barons including a Jamaican and the warehouse manager have been arrested in the well-coordinated and intelligence led operation that lasted two days across different locations in Lagos state.
According to him “Kingpins of the cocaine cartel in custody include: Messrs Soji Jibril, 69, an indigene of Ibadan, Oyo State; Emmanuel Chukwu, 65, who hails from Ekwulobia, Anambra State; Wasiu Akinade, 53, from Ibadan, Oyo State; Sunday Oguntelure, 53, from Okitipupa, Ondo state and Kelvin Smith, 42, a native of Kingston, Jamaica”
Babafemi revealed that they are all members of an international drug syndicate that the Agency has been trailing since 2018.
He said the warehouse located at 6 Olukuola crescent, Solebo estate, Ikorodu, was raided yesterday 18th September, 2022, while the barons were picked from hotels and their hideouts in different parts of Lagos between Sunday night and this morning.
His words: ”Preliminary investigation reveals the class A drugs were warehoused in the residential estate from where the cartel was trying to sell them to buyers in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. They were stored in 10 travel bags and 13 drums”.
While commending all the officers and men of the Agency involved in the extensive investigation including those of the American Drug Enforcement Administration, (US-DEA), Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) said the bust is a historical blow to the drug cartels and a strong warning that they will all go down if they fail to realise that the game has changed.
