NDLEA arrests 65 suspects, seizes 4582.57kg of narcotics in Edo State

The Edo State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it apprehended 65 suspected drug traffickers and seized 4,582.57 kilograms of suspected drugs.

The State Commander of the Agency, Mr Buba Wakawa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Tuesday said that the arrests and seizures were made between July and September 2019.

He said that those arrested included 39 males and 26 females.

Wakawa said that substance suspected to be Cannabis with a total weight of 4,561.57kg accounted for the bulk of the seizures while 1.02kg of psychotropic substance was also seized.

Giving a breakdown, he explained that in July, 28 suspects were arrested with 442.61kg of suspected illicit drugs while 11 suspects were arrested in August with 452.36kg.

Wakawa said that in September, 26 suspects were arrested with 3,687.60kg of suspected illicit drugs.

The state NDLEA commander said that within the period under review, the command discovered and destroyed 11 farmlands measuring 5.19 hectares on which cannabis sativa was being cultivated.

Wakawa explained that the farms were estimated to have the capacity to produce a total of 1,7041.80kg of cannabis sativa.
He said the ages of the arrested suspects ranged from 15 to 65 years.

The commander said that most of the suspects arrested were from Edo and Delta, noting that 35 of the suspects representing 53.85 per cent were from Edo while 13 others representing 20 per cent were from Delta.

He said that about 24 drug-dependent persons were successfully counselled by the command during the period under review.

Wakawa reaffirmed that the command would continue to work very hard to reduce the problem of drug production, trafficking and abuse in the state.