An 80-year-old grandfather, Aremu Shojobi, was apprehended by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with 14 kilogrammes of cannabis at his home in the Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos on Friday, September 20. According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Shojobi confessed to selling illicit drugs for the past 25 years, sourcing his supplies from the Benin Republic.
In a statement, Babafemi revealed, “Operatives of the Lagos State Strategic Command of the agency arrested an 80-year-old grandfather, Pa Aremu Shojobi, with 14 kilograms of cannabis at his home. In his statement, the octogenarian claimed he had been in the business of selling illicit drugs for 25 years. He further claimed he sourced his supplies from Benin Republic and sold to his customers from his residence between 7 am and 10 pm every day.”
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives in Lagos conducted raids on September 18 at the homes of community leader Alhaji Bashir Mohammed Talba, the Sarkin Yamma of Badagry West LCDA. The agency recovered a total of 226kg of cannabis from his two wives and son.
Although Alhaji Talba is currently at large, the raids resulted in significant seizures: “A search of his house in Ashipa area of Seme Badagry led to the recovery of 93 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 57.6kg from his first wife, Asma’u Bashiru, 35, and son, Sadat Bashiru, 22, while another search of his house at Aketegbo area of Seme Badagry led to the seizure of 302 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 168.6kg from his second wife, Hauwa Bashir, 42,” Babafemi stated.
Babafemi also reported major seizures at the Tincan port complex in Lagos, where a total of 25 million pills of tapentadol, an opioid three times stronger than tramadol, and 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered. These seizures occurred on September 17 and 20, from three containers under surveillance following intelligence reports.
He noted, “The 25 million pills of tapentadol have an estimated street value of N13,725,000,000, while the codeine consignment has an estimated street value of N2,450,000,000, bringing the total value of the seizures to N14,950,000,000.”
The tapentadol consignment, packed in 500 cartons, was discovered in one of the containers on September 17. Another container held 175,000 bottles of Barcadin cough syrup with codeine, while the third contained 175,000 bottles of CSC cough syrup with codeine drugs.
Babafemi further stated that “No less than 720 blocks of Arizona, a strain of cannabis weighing 390 kg, were also recovered from a Mitsubishi delivery van marked MUS 720 XH in the Ojo area of Lagos on Monday, September 16.”
READ ALSO: NDLEA nabs 75-year-old grandpa in Ekiti, 70-year-old grandma in Benue for drug dealing
At Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, a 38-year-old drug mule, Okafor Ifeanyi Anthony, was arrested on September 15 while attempting to board a Qatar Airlines flight to Iran via Doha, carrying 76 wraps of cocaine in his stomach. “After three days of observation, Okafor excreted the 76 pellets of ingested cocaine, weighing 1.267 kg,” Babafemi stated.
In Kogi State, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway recovered 700,000 pills of exol-5 intended for distribution in Kano and Kaduna on September 17. A suspect, Udemefuna Chibuike, aged 23, was arrested on September 20 with a large quantity of drugs, including “49,000 tablets of tramadol, 20,000 tablets of diazepam, 100 ampoules of tramadol injection, and 50 bottles of cough syrup with codeine,” Babafemi added.
The statement continued, “A total of 451 blocks of cannabis weighing 213 kg were intercepted along Azikiwe Road, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday, September 18, by NDLEA officers who apprehended a suspect, Ogochukwu Paul, aged 33, conveying the consignment to a notorious drug haven in Borikiri.”
“Meanwhile, operatives in Plateau State on Friday, September 20, arrested a wanted suspect, Jonathan Ali Abuttur, aged 46, on Agingi-Rukuba Road, Bassa LGA, in possession of 808 kg of cannabis sativa concealed in 68 bags of sugar and fertiliser,” Babafemi stated. Their counterparts in Kwara also nabbed Shaibu Musa with 28 kg of the same psychoactive substance.
The NDLEA continues its efforts to combat drug trafficking across Nigeria, reinforcing its commitment to public safety and health.
