Ndlea Seizes 4 People And Burns 317 Tons Of Marijuana In The Edo Forest
The Opuje woods in Edo were home to more than 317,417 kg (317.4 metric tons) of cannabis sativa, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
This information was revealed on Saturday in a statement made accessible to journalists in Abuja by Mr. Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA.
This, according to Babafemi, occurred only a few hours after retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, threatened to make life difficult for drug lords and cartels in the next year if they didn’t give up the illegal trade.
During the two-day operation, he said, agents of the agency struck a fatal blow to a number of cannabis syndicates operating in the aforementioned woodland.
Omoruan Theophilus, a 37-year-old police impostor who uses his character to transport narcotics from the woods to the metropolis, was at least detained.
In addition, three additional people, 42-year-old Aigberuan Jacob, 53-year-old Ekeinde Anthony Zaza, and 42-year-old Naomi Patience Ohiewere, were detained in connection with the narcotics, he said.
According to Babafemi, the Opuje hamlet in Edo’s Owan West Local Government Area is well-known for its cannabis growing and is where the cartels spend a significant amount of money.
He said that this involves removing valuable forest trees and growing cannabis on a vast scale across hundreds of hectares.
“After harvest, they construct warehouses inside of the forest reserves and hire armed youngsters to guard the warehouses around-the-clock.
“Hundreds of NDLEA personnel trekked for hours to reach the woodland on January 18 before being attacked with bonfires by armed youths the next day as they left the neighborhood.
However, he said, “they managed to effectively exit the region with no casualties apart from the massive investment losses imposed on the cartels.”
In a similar vein, the organization broke a criminal organization on Thursday, January 19, using information obtained from the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States.
According to Babafemi, the suspect was engaged in the distribution of counterfeit American cash in Lagos.
In a joint operation between NDLEA and EFCC agents, he said, a total of US$269,000 worth of counterfeit money was retrieved from the network.
He said that this occurred at the Lekki neighborhood’s Oniru Shoprite, where police detained three individuals.
He cited Marwa as praising the professionalism and dedication of all the policemen participating in the two special operations in Lagos and Edo.
Marwa ordered the immediate transmission of the individuals detained (together with their bogus currency) in the Lekki operation to the EFCC for potential prosecution.
