The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NDLEA

  • NDLEA discovers abandoned heroin, arrests two drug traffickers at Lagos airport

    NDLEA discovers abandoned heroin, arrests two drug traffickers at Lagos airport

    OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have discovered 6.158kg of heroin abandoned at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos.

    The consignment which originated from Pakistan was left unclaimed on the conveyor belt at the arrival hall during the inward screening of passengers on Etihad Airways flight.

    Two suspected drug traffickers were also apprehended at the airport while attempting to smuggle 2.035kg of cocaine concealed in cassava flour to Nairobi, Kenya and 2.485kg of cannabis to Qatar.

    NDLEA Commander at the airport, Ahmadu Garba said that the abandoned heroin was hidden inside an abandoned bag.

    He said: “Officers detected 6.158kg of heroin hidden amidst clothes in the abandoned luggage. Oluwasheto Abiodun, a 39 -year- old electrician was found in possession of 2.035kg of cocaine, while Ibe Divine, a 33 year old welder was caught with 2.485kg of cannabis. Both cases are currently under investigation.”

    Oluwasheto told officials that he was asked to send the drug to Nairobi by his childhood friend. “I am an electrician based in Lagos. My childhood friend asked me to buy perfumes, sun glasses and shirts for him. After I bought the items, he then called that somebody will give me cassava flour to add and send to Nairobi in Kenya. However, during search operation at the airport, two parcels of cocaine weighing 2.035 was hidden inside the flour. This was what led to my arrest. I was only given the sum of three hundred thousand naira (N300,000) to buy the items, but my action has led me into detention” Oluwasheto who is a single parent lamented. He hails from Ondo State.

     Ibe Divine, sad in his statement that he wanted to sell the cannabis in Qatar for a high profit.

    Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (rtd), in his response assured members of the public that the agency will continue to improve its screening capability in drug detection, arrest and prosecution of drug barons. “.

    The NDLEA boss also called for the support of members of the public with useful information on the activities of drug barons in their communities.

    He added that the suspects will soon be charged to court.

     

  • NDLEA secures convictions of six drug traffickers

    NDLEA secures convictions of six drug traffickers

    Edo State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has secured the conviction of six drug traffickers from January to date, the Commander, Mr. Buba Wakawa, said in Benin City yesterday.

    Speaking to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he  said the convictions were secured at the Federal High Court, Benin City.

    Wakawa said during the period, 40 suspects comprising 32 men and eight women were arrested for drug offences.

    He said 10 persons were counselled by the agency.

    The commander said a Dangote articulated vehicle driver, who escaped arrest in November when apprehended with about 7, 950 kilogrammes of substances suspected to be cannabis sativa, had been re-arrested.

    He said within the period, 4, 749.2 kilogrammes of substances suspected to be cannabis sativa were seized, while 15 kilogrammes of suspected psychotropic drugs were also impounded.

    Wakawa gave a breakdown of the figure as 1, 767.7 kilogrammes of suspected cannabis sativa seized in January.

    He said 2, 981.5 kilogrammes of the drug were seized this month.

    The commander said of the 40 suspects arrested, 14 were apprehended in January and 26 were caught this month.

  • Three jailed for cocaine trafficking

    The Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday sentenced Okechukwu Nwachukwu, Osita Ilechukwu and Blessing Eluwa to five years imprisonment for cocaine trafficking.

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arraigned them in 2014 for conspiring to import 5.89 kg of cocaine from Brazil.

    Prosecution counsel Abu Ibrahim called 11 witnesses in the trial which began on March 10 last year.

    Justice Mojisola Olatoregun-Ishola found the defendants guilty but gave them an option of N5million fine.

    “I am satisfied that the three accused persons conspired in furtherance of the offence for which they are charged to court. On the whole, I find that the prosecution succeeded in discharging the onus on it to establish its case, I find each of the accused guilty as charged and each is accordingly convicted.”

    During allocutus (plea for mercy), defence counsel asked the court to be merciful since it was February, the season of love.

    Delivering the verdict, the judge said: “The three accused are first offenders. They must, however, be strongly deterred as there is no shortcut to wealth.

    “On count one, the accused are sentenced to a term of five years imprisonment each or an option of N5million fine. On count two, the second accused is sentenced to a term of five years imprisonment with an option of N5 million fine

    “On count three, the third accused is sentenced to a term of five years imprisonment with an option of N5 million fine.

    “The terms of imprisonment shall run consecutively while the fines are cumulative.

    “The exhibit 5.89 kg of cocaine together with the substance in exhibit F1 are to be destroyed by men of the NDLEA within 90 days if there is no appeal against this judgment. The exhibits are not to be recycled,” she held.

  • SANs tackle U.S., NDLEA over Kashamu

    SANs tackle U.S., NDLEA over Kashamu

    Three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), Lateef Fagbemi, Alex Izinyon and Akin Olujimi, yesterday described as illegal any attempt to extradite Senator Buruji Kashamu.
    Fagebmi, Izinyon and Olujimi, in a joint statement, said the United States and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) would be overstepping their bounds by attempting to extradite the senator.
    The SANs said: “The U.S. did not appeal against any of the two UK judgments in favour of our client. The judgments therefore, remain binding against the U.S. and Nigeria for ever. Rather than appeal against those judgments, what the U.S. did next was to latch on to the conducive atmosphere in Nigeria brewed by the political enemies of our client, who even though aware that the U.S. had lost out twice in UK courts against our client, mounted unholy pressure on the former Attorney General to commence extradition proceedings against our client. He was therefore forced to approach the courts in Nigeria for redress. Just as the English courts had ruled in his favour, four different courts in four different suits in Lagos and Abuja found in favour of the Senator.
    “Notwithstanding the various subsisting decisions referred to above given by English and Nigerian courts all outlawing the extradition of our client, the NDLEA is, in clear disobedience of the various judgments, still plotting clandestinely with other security agencies at the behest of US agents to forcibly abduct our client and smuggle him to the U.S.
    “Our client’s U.S. lawyers had filed the suit under a law of the United States which the District court in the U.S. held did not create a private right of action. Our client’s U.S. solicitors appealed against the decision of the District Court in 2016. It was that appeal that the U.S. Court of Appeals pronounced upon on 23rd January, 2017 by affirming the decision of the District Court which held that the statute ‘did not create a private right of action’. In other words, it is not open to any individual to predicate a suit on the statute. Clearly, that was not a decision on the merit of the issues submitted to the court.
    “We are in agreement with the court that mere presence of a U.S. employee during an arrest by local officials in a foreign land and even assisting the local officials in an arrest will not amount to attempted abduction. What was not put before the U.S. court of appeals for determination and which the court did not decide is a situation where the local courts in the foreign land had given express orders prohibiting arrest, abduction and/or detention, as done by the Federal High Court in its judgments prohibiting the NDLEA and other security operatives from arresting or removing and exporting our client to the U.S. Any arrest or removal in breach of the orders of the Federal High court will unarguably amount to abduction as defined in Article 2 of the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance adopted by the General Assembly on 20th December, 2006 to which the attention of the U.S. Court of Appeals was not drawn. Indeed Article 5 of the Convention renders perpetrators of enforced disappearance and the State which organize, acquiesce in or tolerate such disappearances liable under civil law, without prejudice to the international responsibility of the State concerned in accordance with the principles of international law.
    “The U.S. court of appeal did not purport to and cannot overrule the decision of any Nigerian court which must be obeyed, except set aside by a higher court in Nigeria … We have no doubt the NDLEA will backtrack from its enthusiasm after reading our analysis of the judgment. It is also worthy of mention that the Central Authority in matters of extradition from Nigeria is the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation. The role of the NDLEA is no more than to provide information that the Attorney General may require in regard to any request for extradition. So, the only authority who can speak as to what Government is doing on any request for extradition is the Attorney General of the Federation. We are not aware that the Hon. Attorney General has assigned or delegated his statutory authority to the NDLEA.”

  • Convict drags NDLEA to Appeal Court over life sentence

    Convict drags NDLEA to Appeal Court over life sentence

    …as agency secures 212 convictions in one year

    A 32 year-old drug convict, Aluagwu Lawrence, of Iju Ishaga area of Lagos State, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for possessing 220 grammes of cannabis, has taken the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to the Court of Appeal in contention of the sentence awarded him at the Federal High Court.
    In response to the motion of appeal, the NDLEA at the weekend filed its brief of argument and March 27, 2017 was fixed for the commencement of the argument of the motion of appeal. The appellant counsel, Barrister Vincent Nwanna, in his submission, stated that the sentence by the Federal High Court on his client for possessing 200 grammes of cannabis is excessive and should be reviewed by the Appeal Court.
    However, the NDLEA counsel, Barrister Jeremiah Aernan said that the Agency has a superior argument because the convict pleaded guilty before the Federal High Court and that the NDLEA Act does not differentiate between quantities of drugs found on dealers.
    Meanwhile the Lagos command of the NDLEA arrested 274 suspected drug dealers in 2016 and successfully won the conviction of two hundred and twelve (212) drug dealers comprising 205 males and seven females. This is the highest conviction recorded by the Lagos command. The convicts got various jail terms including life imprisonment with hard labour.
    However, one Joy Amah, a 34 year old caught with 45.2kg of cannabis, was convicted and pardoned by Justice Shagari on the ground that she was five months pregnant and had spent three months in custody.
    Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (retd) who commended the Lagos command for securing 212 convictions in a year, said that the Agency is strategisingon how to tackle the drug problem in the State.
    “The Agency seized more drugs and won more convictions in 2016 in Lagos. I commend the prosecuting counsel for winning 212 convictions last year.
    A total of sixteen thousand, five hundred and seventy-one (16,571.289 kgs) of narcotic drugs were seized by the Lagos command. While two hundred and twelve (212) drug dealers were convicted last year, one hundred and forty (140) cases were pending at the Federal High Court as at December 31, 2016. This is a clear indication that the drug problem is huge” Abdallah stated.

  • NDLEA arrests 269 drug traffickers, convicts 53

    The Kaduna State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), said on Thursday it arrested 269 suspected drug traffickers and convicted 53 in the state from January to December last year.

    The NDLEA Commander in the state, Mr. Samuel Azige, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna.

    Azige noted that the number of those arrested was higher in 2016 compared with the 232 arrested in 2015.

    He also said 18,298.375 kilograms of illicit drugs were seized from the suspects during the period under review, indicating a decrease from the 23,169.596 kilograms seized in 2015.

    Azige attributed the reduction to the massive public enlightenment carried out within the year to educate the public against drug abuse.

    “Out of the figure, psychotropic substance constituted the highest with 16,550. 239 kilograms, an increase from 14, 129 kilograms seized in 2015, while Indian hemp decreased from 23, 285 kilograms in 2015 to 1,748.032 kilograms in 2016.

    “The quantity of cocaine seized was 0.031 kilograms and heroine 0.019 kilograms.

    “As you can see, psychotropic substance seized was higher than Indian hemp that used to be the highest.

    “This showed that more people are taking these dangerous substances which increased its demand and supply,” Azige said.

     

     

  • NDLEA arrests 234 drug suspects in Kogi

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Kogi has arrested 234 suspects, including 10 females, for drug-related offences between January and December this year.

    The agency’s commander in the state, Alhaji Idris Bello, stated this in a statement on Friday.

    Bello disclosed that the agency seized 7,550.844 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa (Indian hemp) and other psychotropic substances during the period under review.

    He added that NAFDAC seized 3,425.600 kilogrammes of various drugs in September alone.

    “Eight different vehicles used in transporting the illicit drugs were impounded while 20 persons were sentenced to various prison terms for drug related offences during the period,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the NDLEA official as saying in the statement.

     

  • NDLEA arrests 215 drug suspects in Bayelsa

    The Bayelsa State command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Thursday said it arrested 215 suspected drug traffickers and confiscated 219.999 kgs of illicit drugs in the state in 2016.

    The command’s Principal Staff Officer, Public Affairs, Superintendent Osakwe Ikenna, in an electronic statement said 164 of the suspects were males, while 51 were females.

    Ikenna noted that the command secured 19 convictions and counseled 149 drug addicts.

    He said: “At present, two residential clients are still undergoing rehabilitation.

    “The command equally carried out aggressive and far-reaching public enlightenment through lectures, radio and television programmes, print media, drug free clubs and collaboration with various groups, communities and associations.”

    According to him in the last quarter of 2016, the command nabbed 39 suspects including 29 males and 10 females and seized 52.997 kgs of illicit drugs from traffickers in the state.

  • NDLEA arrests two suspects with cocaine

    NDLEA arrests two suspects with cocaine

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Tuesday said it arrested two suspects with cocaine at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport

    A statement by the agency’s spokesperson, Mr Mitchell Ofoyeju, said one of the suspects was arrested on his way to Hong Kong after ingesting cocaine.

    “Another suspect, who lives in Athens, Greece, was also apprehended in connection with unlawful possession of wraps of substances that tested positive to cocaine.

    “The arrests were made at the MMIA, Lagos, during screening of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight to Hong Kong and Egypt Airline flight to Athens.

    “Preliminary investigation suggests that the suspects had targeted the Christmas holiday to smuggle cocaine out of the country but drug law enforcement officials at the Lagos airport were able to uncover their plan.

    “The total weight of cocaine seized from the suspects is 1.150kgs.

    “One of them excreted 45 wraps of cocaine he ingested, weighing 935 grammes while the other excreted five wraps of cocaine weighing 215 grammes.

    “Both suspects tested positive for narcotic ingestion and while under observation; they expelled wraps of cocaine which they had wanted to smuggle out of the country.

    “The suspects are currently under investigation.

    “The high expectations of both suspects making quick money this festive season from drug trafficking had been dashed by vigilant anti-narcotic officers,” the statement stated.

    The statement also reported the Chairman of the agency, Mr Muhammad Abdallah, as saying that those wishing to get rich through drug trafficking would end up in prison.

    “This is a warning to drug traffickers that the agency is determined to detect all hidden drugs and prosecute offenders.

    “There are control measures in place to detect narcotics at all exit and entry points.

    “We shall continue to improve on our strategies in line with our mission of providing a safe and healthy society for all.” Abdallah said. (NAN)

  • NDLEA secures conviction of 339 drug users in Kano

    The Kano State Command of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it secured the conviction of 339 hard drug users in the state between January and December this year.

    The Commandant of the NDLEA in Kano, Alhaji Hamza Umar, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday.

    Hamza said the command arrested and arraigned 462 suspects before the Federal High Court in Kano within the period under review.

    “Out of the 462 suspects that were arrested, 339 were sentenced to different jail terms and one of the convicts was a female,’’ he said.

    Umar said 123 suspects are still undergoing trial at the Federal High Court in Kano.

    “From January to date 40 tonnes of hard drugs were confiscated.

    “They included Cannabis Sativa, cough syrup and other illicit substances,” Umar said.

    The NDLEA commandant attributed the success recorded by the command to the cooperation received from the public.

    He also commended the state government and other stakeholders for their supports.