The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Kogi State command on Thursday intercepted substances suspected to be cocaine and other hard drugs suspectedly being ferried to insurgents in the North East.
Operatives of the command said they made four different interceptions and seizures in one day, beating all the concealment tactics of the hardened drugs Couriers and their drivers.
Parading the suspects before newsmen, the state Commandant of NDLEA, Mr Alfred Adewumi said within a space of about five hours his men on a motorized patrol along Abuja- Lokoja highway were able to intercept and seize the illicit drugs including cocaine and cannabis sativa all of which weighed about 1,120.36 kg.
The Commandant who took time to dismantle the cleverly concealed drugs before newsmen , said some of them were packaged inside charcoal sacks at the back of an open articulated vehicle while some were neatly concealed inside grains and unsuspected areas inside the vehicles.
He said one the articulated vehicles in an attempt to run away, hit and damaged one of the patrol vehicles and injured some of the operatives while another a blue Nissan car fled into the bush and abandoned the car after a hot chase.
While expressing displeasure over the rate of trafficking illicit drugs in the state, he said between January and June this year , a total of 7,500 kg of assorted drugs were intercepted by his command, saying that most of the illicit drugs may find their way into the hands of the Boko haram insurgents terrorizing the North East of the country.
The NDLEA boss appealed to members of the public to give useful information that can lead to arrest of those dealing in illicit drugs in the State, adding that his command was more ready to put an end to use the of illicit drugs in the state as well as the couriers passing through the state.
He gave the names of the suspects and the drivers arrested for cannabis sativa as Murtala Mohammed,
Mohammed Bashir, Mohammed Sani, Ukasha Musa, Abba Mukhtar. While the name of the person arrested with Cocaine is withheld for further investigation
One of the suspect’s, Mohamed Bashir, who confessed to committing the crime said he was selling the drugs in one of the states in the North East and pleaded for leniency.
