Korede Abdullah in Lagos
In a major breakthrough, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully dismantled two cross-border drug trafficking syndicates, arresting six suspected drug kingpins from Adamawa, Anambra, Lagos, and Cameroon.
The operation, which was months in the making, resulted in the recovery of cocaine and opioids worth billions of naira.
According to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, the agency had been monitoring the group’s activities for several months, as they were known to supply drugs to terrorist groups operating in Nigeria and Cameroon.
The arrests were made on October 7 and 8, after NDLEA operatives trailed two suspects, Bawuro and Najib, from Onitsha to Taraba.
The duo was found to be in possession of 276,500 pills of tramadol, which they abandoned in a Toyota Avensis saloon car marked DKA 57 TT on the Jalingo-Yola Expressway.
The dismantling of these cross-border syndicates is a major victory for Nigeria’s anti-drug efforts.
The NDLEA’s relentless pursuit of these kingpins has disrupted the supply chain of illicit drugs, dealing a significant blow to terrorist groups and other criminal organizations.
The statement read in part, “After months of intelligence gathering and painstaking surveillance, operatives of the NDLEA have dismantled two major cross-border drug trafficking syndicates, with cocaine and opioids worth billions of naira recovered. Six leaders of the cartels were arrested in different parts of the country.
“The syndicates, which include Nigerians based in Mubi, Adamawa State; Onitsha, Anambra State; and Lagos State, as well as Cameroonians, came under the NDLEA’s radar after they were suspected of being major suppliers of drugs to terrorist groups operating in Nigeria and Cameroon.
“Leaders of the syndicates so far arrested include Ibrahim Bawuro, Najib Ibrahim, Ibrahim Umar, Nelson Anayo, Ezeh Martin, and Adejumo Ishola.
“Intelligence gathered revealed that some psychoactive substances, including tramadol, were often sourced by Ibrahim Bawuro and Ibrahim Najib from a notorious drug dealer in Onitsha, Nelson Udechukwu Anayo, and were then packed and concealed in vehicles at the premises of Ezeh Amaechi Martin, an associate of Udechukwu.
“The duo of Ibrahim Bawuro and Ibrahim Najib would transport the drugs from Onitsha to Yola and subsequently to other parts of the North and Cameroon in specially constructed false compartments of vehicles, which travelled from the East to the North at night.”
