The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended Ndubuisi Udatu, a 41-year-old ex-convict also known as Richard, with 2.7 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in two large music speakers.
The arrest occurred on Monday, April 7, at an NDLEA checkpoint in Namtari along the Ngurore-Yola road, Adamawa State.
“In his statement, he claimed he returned to Nigeria to continue his illicit drug trade after serving out his jail term in Malaysia where he had been arrested, convicted and sent to prison for drug trafficking offences,” the NDLEA reported. Alongside the drugs, N22,300 was recovered.
In a separate operation at the Nigeria-Cameroon border in Mfum, Cross River State, NDLEA officers, alongside Customs personnel, arrested 35-year-old Odoh Peter Ikechukwu with 8,740 ampoules of assorted opioids weighing 395 kilograms. These included 1,080 ampoules of fentanyl injection, 2,160 ampoules of morphine sulphate injection, 3,010 ampoules of phenobarbital sulphate injection, 2,160 ampoules of pethidine injection, and 330 ampoules of midazolam injection.
The NDLEA also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, conducting sensitisation lectures at institutions like New Era Secondary School, Nteje, Anambra; Promise Land College, Ikotun Egbe, Lagos; Cherryfield College, Jikwoyi, FCT; Federal Polytechnic, Ayede, Ogbomoso, Oyo; and Nurul Faruq Islamic Academy, Gombi, Adamawa. The Kwara State Command visited Oba Joel Olaniyi Oyatoye Titiloye Olufayo II, Oloro of Oro kingdom, to promote the initiative.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd) praised the Adamawa, Cross River, FCT, Kano, and Niger State Commands, urging all officers to intensify efforts against drug cartels while advancing drug demand reduction.
“While commending the efforts of the officers and men… for a job well done, [he] tasked them and their compatriots nationwide not to rest on their oars but to continue to raise the bar,” the agency stated.