A 90-year-old ex-soldier, Usman Adamu, who allegedly supplied bandits illicit drugs, has been arrested by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
The Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday, said Adamu was arrested on Wednesday, August 3, at Mailalle, in the Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
He noted that the suspect was caught with 5.1 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa.
“A female passenger, Lydia Lami, was on Sunday, July 31, arrested at the Lagos airport for attempting to export 1,700 tablets of tramadol 225mg concealed in her luggage to Istanbul, Turkey, via a Turkish Airline flight.
“Preliminary investigation by the NDLEA revealed that the suspect, a mother of three, hails from Zango Kataf LGA in Kaduna State, and lives in Istanbul, Turkey, with her family.
“Lydia blamed her action on pressure to raise N5m ransom to free her mother from the captivity of bandits, who kidnapped her since June this year,” the statement added.
Babafemi also said a suspected trans-border drug dealer, Pastor Anietie Effiong, was arrested by operatives of the anti-narcotic agency with three drums of crystal methamphetamine, aka Mkpuru Mmiri, believed to have been imported from India.
The illicit drug found in the consignment weighing 90kg was reportedly loaded into a commercial bus at Ojuelegba, Lagos, and was intercepted during a stop and search operation along the Umuahia-Ikot-Ekpene highway on Saturday, August 6, 2022.
Investigation by the NDLEA revealed that the drug, packed 30kg in each drum, was meant for Effiong, who was arrested in a follow-up operation at Oron beach in Oron.
The recovered meth drums were reportedly meant for onward delivery to the Republic of Cameroon.
“At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, a 37-year-old indigene of Ovia LGA, Edo State, resident in Italy, Solo Osamede, was arrested for ingesting 41 wraps of heroin. He was nabbed and taken into custody for excretion while attempting to board a Turkish airline flight to Milan, Italy, via Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday, July 30.
“The swallowed wraps of the illicit drug were recovered in four excretions, which the suspect completed on Monday, August 1,” the statement added.
