Husband, wife, children arrested over 10.5 tons of drugs

Juliana Francis

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Bornu State, Command, has started interrogating a couple and their two children on what they know about 10,522 kilograms of compressed Cannabis Sativa aka wee-wee, concealed in a warehouse in Maiduguri, the State Capital.

The illicit weed which was contained in 183 giant bags is the single largest seizure within the North Eastern States.

The warehouse, located at Ungwan Doki, Maigadari Ward, adjacent to Bornu State Environmental Protection Agency, is a three-bedroom and three-room Boys’ quarters.

NDLEA’s Principal Staff Officer, Public Affairs, Jonah Achema, explained that those arrested in connection with the drugs was Modu Fanami, who lives in the compound with his wife and two children.

Fanami admitted that he served as the errand boy to one Uche, now at large, who is the real owner of the drug business.

Achema said: “A Gulf Car used by Fanami to take delivery of each consignment from the point of arrival to the warehouse was also seized by the Agency. The Agency has launched a manhunt for the arrest of those behind the criminal merchandise.”

Achema noted that only last week, the Agency publicly destroyed 100, 143.218 Kilograms of drug exhibits, mainly Cannabis sativa in Badagry-Lagos.

He stated: “The drugs were recovered within the period of five years by the Agency’s eight operational formations in Lagos, covering land borders, sea and airports. The Agency also closed the year 2019 with the destruction of 181.2 tons of Cannabis during its ‘Operation Thunder Strike IV,’ which combed the forests of Ondo and Edo states, where the cannabis were harvested and stored for onward movement to the drug market. The Agency in the course of the operation stormed Ala Forest in Ondo State and Uzebba and Ihkin Okpoji forests in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State, where the drugs were discovered in warehouses and set ablaze.”

The Executive chairman of NDLEA, Colonel Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (Rtd.) noted that the seizure came after weeks of painstaking surveillance and monitoring.

According to him, the seizure is mostly likely to have links with transnational syndicate cartels and the Boko Haram insurgents in the North Eastern part of Nigeria. He observed that it could not be ruled out that the drugs were for onward shipment to the bordering Niger, Chad and Cameroon because of the quantity involved.

 “Nigerians need to wake up from their slumber and rise up to the challenge of drugs. If this quantity of drugs can be found in Bornu State where Cannabis is not cultivated and knowing the nexus between drugs and terrorism,  then our communities cannot afford to be passive but be actively involved in drug control efforts. Vigilance is the word,” Abdallah said.

Abdallah further said: “Members of the public are hereby assured that the Agency will sustain its crackdown on the illicit drug market. We will ensure that the Agency will not only disrupt the activities of those behind the heinous drug crime, but will dismantle their networks and defeat them ultimately.”