NDLEA arrests Osun monarch, corps member for ‘drug trafficking’

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Ige Babatunde, the Ba’ale of Akarabata in Ile-Ife, for alleged drug trafficking.

In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said Babatunde, 50, was arrested on Friday with 5kg of “fresh cannabis plants”.

The agency also said that Yusuf Abdulrahman, a 25-year-old youth corps member, was arrested at Corpers Lodge in Sumaila area of ​​Kano, with 1,250kg of Loud.

He added that the NDLEA also raided the Lagos base of a “high-level cocaine syndicate” led by Agbakoba John Mmadu and his wife.

He said large shipments of cocaine intended for export and local distribution were recovered during the raid.

“Seven parcels of cocaine weighing a total of 7.652 kilograms were recovered at Mmadu at Ago Palace Way,” the statement read.

“One hundred and twenty-two (122) compressed pellets of the same drug weighing 2.42kg were seized at Ijeoma and Ifeoma in Lilly Estate, bringing the total seizure to 10.1 kilogrammes, valued at over N2.1 billion in street value.”

Babafemi added that NDLEA operatives in Benue intercepted a consignment of 350 grams of cocaine at a checkpoint along Enugu road on Thursday.

“The illicit drug was concealed in an MP3 speaker sent in a parcel. A swift follow-up operation at Flight Motor Park in Otukpo led to the arrest of the owner, Odeh Anthony, 25,” the statement added.

“Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives, during a stop and search operation along Ngurore-Yola road in Adamawa State on Wednesday, July 3, arrested a Chadian, Yves Ahmat Gali, on a commercial bus travelling from Kano to Yola.

“The suspect was found with a loudspeaker used to conceal 20 compressed blocks and nine plastic containers of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 5,200 kg.

“In Kano, operatives on Wednesday, July 3, arrested a youth corps member, Yusuf Abdulrahman, 25, at Corpers Lodge, Sumaila area of ​​the city, with 1,250kg of Loud, while in Osun State, the head of Akarabata community in Ile-Ife, Ba’ale Ige Babatunde, 50, was arrested on Friday, July 5, with fresh cannabis plants weighing 5kg.

“Two suspects, Monday Ali, 49, and Jimoh Alewi, 37, were arrested when NDLEA operatives raided Ikota Forest in Ifedore LGA, Ondo State, where a total of 42,500kg of cannabis was destroyed on 17 hectares of farmland while 73.5kg of the same substance was recovered for the pursuit of the suspects during a five-day operation that ended on Monday, July 1.

“In Abuja, on Saturday, July 6, operatives of the NDLEA and FCT arrested the duo Sanusi Mamman, 28, and Usaini Ibrahim, 20, in a vehicle on Abaji-Gwagwalada road with 1,132 bottles of codeine syrup; 13,540 tablets of tramadol; 50,000 tablets of diazepam; and 59 tablets of rophynol. The suspects claimed that they were bringing the opioids from Onitsha, Anambra State.

“With the same dynamism, the agency’s commands and formations across the country continued their sensitization activities on the War on Drug Abuse (WADA) in schools, places of worship, workplaces and communities, among others, in the past week.

“These include an information lecture on AMA for students of Community Grammar School (Junior), Aroro, Ibadan, Oyo State; students of Candy Secondary School, Agu Awka, Anambra State; students of Community High School, Umuida, Enugu Ezike, Enugu State; students of School of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Kofar Nasarawa, Kano State; and an AMA sensitization lecture organized by the NDLEA Area M Command at Sabo Motor Park, Kaduna, among others.”

The statement said Buba Marwa, Chairman of the NDLEA, commended officers and men of the Special Operations Unit in Osun, Benue, Ondo, Kano and FCT Commands for the arrests and seizures, while asking them to “keep up the pace.”