NDLEA Seizes $4.8m, CFA57m Fake Currencies On Lokoja-Abuja Highway

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized 4.9 million dollars and 57 million CFA suspected to be counterfeits on the Abuja-Lokoja Highway. The CFA, backed by the French treasury, is the legal tender in Francophone West and Central Africa and accepted in 14 countries. The Director, Media and Advocacy at the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi stated on Sunday in Abuja that the suspected counterfeit notes were seized from a commercial bus travelling from Lagos to Kano. “A search of the bus led to the seizure of the 4.8 million dollars and 57 million CFA suspected to be counterfeits,’’ he stated. Babafemi also celebrated the jailing of an acting district head in Sokoto, Alhaji Umar Mohammed (aka Dan Bala) for five-and-a-half years for dealing in drugs. A Federal High Court in Sokoto presided over by Justice Ahmad Mahmud sentenced the acting district head after the NDLEA preferred a four-count charge of drug dealing against him in October 2022. The NDLEA told the court that Mohammed was in possession of and dealing in 436.38kg of Indian hemp and 7kg of other psychotropic drugs. The court sentenced Mohammed to two years on each of the first two counts with an option of N1 million fine, and eight months on each of the third and fourth counts without an option of fine. On Oct. 11, NDLEA operatives stormed Orue Forest in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo where they arrested one Happy Akashili (37) and Solomon Uwesue (40) in a hut located inside an Indian hemp farm. Babafemi stated that the farm measured 2.4 hectares and was destroyed, adding that 92kg already processed skunk were also recovered there. He added that 49kg of skunk was also seized at Ogbeturu camp in the area. The NDLEA spokesman stated also that the agency had been advancing its advocacy on drug supply reduction with the War against Drug Abuse (WADA) in campaigns in schools, markets, worship centres and communities. Babafemi added that one of the flagship programmes of the advocacy was the WADA sensitisation lecture on drug use and mental Health for students of 15 secondary schools at the University of Ibadan. The sensitisation lecture was also delivered in schools in Badagry, Lagos State; in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State; in Awka; in Gombe; in Benue, Zamfara and in Kano.

NDLEA intercepts fake $20m on Lokoja-Abuja Highway

A ‘Stop-and-Search’ operation by operatives of the NDLEA on the Lokoja-Abaji (FCT) Highway has yielded 20 million counterfeit dollars. Spokesman of the NDLEA stated on Sunday in Abuja that the fake currencies were recovered from a bus travelling from Lagos and heading to Abuja. He stated that the 53-year-old driver of the vehicle, Onyebuchi Nlededin, was arrested. Babafemi stated also that one Jude Ndubuisi (52) was arrested in a raid on Aug. 17 while in possession of 2.2kg of methamphetamine at Kabusa village, FCT. He added that the suspect was earlier arrested on July 7, 2022 for being in possession of 20.75kg of Indian hemp and that he was on court bail when he was nabbed for yet another drug crime. “Another raid on two notorious drug joints in the FCT – “Dei-Dei’’ and Tora-Bora Hills, led to the recovery of 82.8kg skunk, 1.8kg Rohypnol and 1.2kg diazepam on Wednesday, Aug. 16. “In Osun, NDLEA operatives destroyed clusters of Indian hemp plantations measuring about 3.5 hectares (more than 7.5 tons) at Mopatedo in Ifedayo Local Government Area of the state on Saturday, Aug. 19 “Two suspects – Sunday Otogbo (40), and Peter Makra (35), were arrested inside the Indian hemp farms. “An additional 30kg of Indian hemp and 16.9kg of Indian hemp seeds were also recovered from the farms,’’ he stated. Babafemi added that three other suspects – Ndubuisi Okorie (44), Ebilima Emmanuel (38), and Okechukwu Smart (40), were arrested on Aug. 19 in connection with 168kg of Indian hemp seized from them. The suspects were arrested when their vehicle was intercepted on the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway, he stated. “A shipment of 6,000 capsules of tramadol, 1,200 tablets of `swinol’, 155 bottles of codeine syrup and 20 tablets s of Molly was equally seized on the same road on Sunday Aug. 13. “A follow-up operation at Oyigbo area of Port Harcourt, led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Remigius Ogechukwu (33),’’ Babafemi added. He stated also that a teenager, Boniface Odinakachukwu (19), was arrested with 99.4kg skunk at Isikwe Road, Achi in Oji-River Local Government Area of Enugu State on Friday, Aug. 18. The NDLEA spokesman added that a wanted 19-year-old bandit, Aliyu Mohammed Altine, was arrested by NDLEA operatives on Illela-Sokoto Road with some wraps of skunk on Thursday, Aug. 17. Altine was on the wanted list of the police and has since been handed over to the police in Sokoto State for further investigation, Babafemi stated.