NDLEA arrests ex-convicts, wanted drug kingpins

Two drug kingpins declared wanted have been arrested by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, According to Metro has learnt.

The drug lords, identified as Ajiboye Samuel and Alhaji Bashir Talba, were arrested in separate locations in Ogun and Lagos states on September 25 and September 27, respectively.

A statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said Samuel, popularly known as Na God, was declared wanted after a raid on his warehouse in the Mushin area of Lagos, where a total of 1,101 kilograms of Ghana Loud.

Babafemi said Samuel had been evading arrest but was arrested in a bank in Ogun State.

He said, “Operatives on Wednesday, September 25, arrested a wanted drug kingpin, Ajiboye  Samuel (a.k.a Na God), after 12 months of evading arrest following the raid of his warehouse in Akala, Mushin area of Lagos, where a total of 1,101 kilograms of Ghana Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, was recovered on September 4, 2023. The arrest of Samuel in a bank in Ogun State followed well-coordinated efforts by the agency’s Directorate of Assets and Financial Investigation, which traced 20 bank accounts linked to the suspect and blocked them. “

He added that the operatives had arrested the wives and a son of Talba, who is also a community leader, after cannabis worth 226.2kg was recovered in his home in Badagry on September 18.

Babafemi stated, “In like manner, the NDLEA operatives in Lagos on Friday, September 27, took into custody a wanted community leader and Sarkin Yamma of Badagry, Alhaji Bashir Talba, following the arrest of his two wives: Hauwa and Asma’u and son, Sadat, as well as the seizure of a total of 226.2kg cannabis at their homes in Badagry on September 18.”

Also, Babafemi said two ex-convicts identified as Muhammad Machido and Zakari Buhari were arrested with drugs in Katsina State.

He noted that while Muhammad was nabbed along the Kano-Katsina Highway, Kankia, on Monday, September 23, with 51,000 pills of opioids, Buhari was arrested in Daura with 14 blocks of cannabis weighing 7kg.

“Buhari was first arrested on February 8, 2024, and sentenced by the court to 15 months imprisonment with an option of a 15,000 fine, which he paid.

“In his case, Muhammad was earlier arrested with 45kg cannabis sativa and 2.5kg tramadol on December 12, 2022. He was then sentenced to two years imprisonment,” the statement added.

Babafemi also said an automobile spare parts dealer, Ejiofor Chiwuzie, was arrested over an attempt to export consignments of heroin and loud, concealed in LED rechargeable lamps and sofa metal legs through the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos.

He added, “Chiwuzie was arrested on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at the Trade Fair complex, Ojo area of Lagos, where he sells automobile spare parts, following the seizure of his cargo containing auto parts, rechargeable lamps, sofa metal legs and electronics going to Liberia at the export shed of the Lagos airport.

“Concealed inside the LED lamps and sofa legs were 37 parcels of heroin weighing 1.10 kilograms and four blocks of loud with a total weight of 1.20kg. A swift follow-up operation led to the arrest of two freight agents and then, Chiwuzie, who sent the consignment.”

Babafemi stated that other attempts by drug trafficking networks to export consignments of loud, tramadol pills, co-codamol tablets, pentazocine injection, dihydrocodeine and promethazine tabs through some courier companies to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Thailand and Oman were foiled by the NDLEA officers.

“While 2.3kg of loud hidden in a carton was going to Thailand, 749 grams of tramadol concealed in soles of locally made footwear were heading to Oman, with 60 ampoules of pentazocine injection going to the United States. No less than 200 pills of co-codamol were meant for Australia, while a total of 700 tablets of dihydrocodeine, promethazine and tramadol, as well as 20 ampoules of pentazocine, injection concealed in soles of footwear, were heading to the United Kingdom.

“Going to Canada were 58 ampoules of pentazocine injection hidden in female clothes. All the seizures in the courier houses were made between Monday, September 23, and Tuesday, 24, in Lagos.”

Babafemi said in another operation conducted by the operatives, 9.7kg cannabis sativa and 50 litres of monkey tail were recovered from one Florence Moses.

He said, “In another operation in Lagos, no less than 9.7kg cannabis sativa and 50 litres of monkey tail, a fermented combo of cannabis and dry gin, was recovered from a suspect, Florence Moses, at the Badore area of Ajah, Lekki on Tuesday, September 24.”

In Kogi State, Babafemi said three suspects, Owolabi Dele, Ayodele Monday, and Olawale Ojo, were arrested by the NDLEA along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja Expressway while conveying 132 sacks of cannabis weighing 2,062.00kg in a Mercedes container truck from Osun State to Dei Dei in Abuja.

“Another suspect, Benedict Simire, 57, was arrested at Ayetoro Road, Kabba, conveying 33.40kg of the same psychoactive substance and a pump action gun with six cartridges on Wednesday, September 25,” he added.

Babafemi also said operatives of the Marine Command of the NDLEA intercepted a two 40HP Yamaha engines boat bearing 71 bags of Ghana Loud weighing 2,982kgs along the Alfa Beach, Lekki area of Lagos.

He added, “Men of the Nigerian Customs Service Western Marine Command were on hand to support the NDLEA officers to recover the boat and exhibits after the two suspects in the boat dived into the water.

“Also, on Wednesday, September 25, the NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports complex, Onne, Rivers State, intercepted 1,500 cartons of codeine-based cough syrup containing a total of 150,000 bottles during a joint examination of a targeted 40ft container, with men of the Nigerian Customs and other security agencies.

“While the NDLEA operatives in Niger State recovered 6,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection from Chukwudi Nwanoche, 38, at the former Minna City gate,  their counterparts in Kano arrested Aminu Danmanya, 31, with 15,530 capsules of tramadol at the Kano Residential Hotel, Katsina Road.

“In Plateau State, operatives on Friday, September 27, arrested a female suspect, Jummai Luka, 58, behind Jehovah’s Witnesses junction, Kabong, Jos North LGA, in possession of 12,000 pills of tramadol while the NDLEA officers in Oyo State on Tuesday, September 24, nabbed

Segun Asogba, 50, with 601kg  cannabis sativa and a Dane gun at Igangan town.”