NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi in a statement on Monday in Abuja said that the illicit drugs were worth N194 billion in street value.
By Jeffrey Agbo
President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) chairman, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd), for the agency’s biggest drug bust in history.
NDLEA operatives busted a major warehouse in a secluded estate in Ikorodu area of Lagos State, where over N194 billion worth of crack were seized.
According to an aide of the president, Bashir Ahmad, Buhari told Marwa on Monday in a telephone call from New York that he appreciates the work he is doing at the NDLEA.
“I deeply appreciate the work that you have put into the eradication of the drug menace. It gladdens my heart as I continue to follow the successes achieved under your leadership,” Buhari was quoted as saying.
NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi in a statement on Monday in Abuja said that the illicit drugs, which was 1.8 tons (1,855 kilogrammes) worth more than Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight Million, Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($278, 250,000).
He said that it was an equivalent of about One Hundred and Ninety-Four Billion, Seven Hundred and Seventy-Five Million (N194, 775,000,000) Naira in street value.
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The NDLEA spokesperson said that the seizures appeared to be “the biggest singular Cocaine seizure in the history of Nigeria’s premier anti-narcotic agency”.
According to him, at least, four drug barons, including a Jamaican and the warehouse manager have been arrested.
“This was done in a well coordinated and intelligence -led operation that lasted two days across different locations in Lagos State,”
“Kingpins of the Cocaine cartel in custody. They are all members of an international drug syndicate that the agency has been trailing since 2018,” Babafemi said.
He said that the warehouse, raided by the NDLEA operatives on Sept.18, was located in Solebo Estate, Ikorodu.
The NDLEA spokesperson said that the barons were picked from their hotels and hideouts in different parts of Lagos, between Sunday night and Monday morning.
“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,” he said.
Babafemi quoted Marwa as commending all the officers and men of the agency involved in the extensive investigation.
This, Marwa said, included those of the American Drug Enforcement Administration, (US-DEA).
He said the bust was a historical blow to the drug cartels and a strong warning.
“They will all go down if they failed to realise that the game had changed,” Marwa warned.