NDLEA Lagos command arrests 577 drug suspects in 2015

A total of 577 drug suspects were arrested by two commands of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in 2015.

While 438 drug suspects were arrested by the Lagos command between January and November 2015, the airport command arrested 139 suspects same period.

Aliyu Sule, Lagos State commander of the NDLEA, who disclosed this in an interview in his office in Lagos on the activities of his command in 2015, also disclosed that a total of 7,315 kilograms (over 7 tons) of various drugs were seized during the period.

The breakdown showed that cannabis 7,313.06 kilograms, heroine 413.5 grams, cannabis sativa 480 grams were seized.

According to Sule, there has been a drop in the number of arrest this year compared with the previous years, as the command was becoming more pro-active than before in trailing suspects.

The NDLEA Lagos command between 2011 and 2012 made a seizure of drugs between 8 tonnes and 10 tons compared with the 7 tons this year, Sule said further.

The command has continued to swoop at the drugs suspects’ hideouts and mount roadblocks on the highways to arrest suspects, he said, which was responsible for the decline.

He appealed to Nigerians to cooperate with the NDLEA, as the war against drug trafficking was a collective responsibility.

Sule, who regretted various attacks on his men while carrying out their duties, also appealed to well-meaning Nigerians, corporate bodies and the government to come to their aid by providing logistics for them to carry out their duties more effectively.

Meanwhile, the Murtala Muhammed Airport Command of the NDLEA said it also arrested 139 drug traffickers at the airport the period under review.

Garba Ahmadu, the airport commander of NDLEA, also revealed that out of the 139 suspects 119 were male, while 20 were female.

To Ahmadu, the command made 590.9 kilograms of seizure, while between 115 and 120 cases were before the Federal High Court and 17 convicted, saying the command in 2014 made a seizure of 436,065kg, while it increased in 2015 to 590,9kg.

Ahmadu said129 suspects were arrested in 2014, while 139 suspects were arrested in 2015, and attributed the increase in arrest to officers more awareness to tricks employed by traffickers and trainings.

He enumerated means of drug concealment by traffickers to include bags, shoes, injections, adding that the more worrisome trend included the use of noodles pack and tomato paste to concealed drugs.

He said officers of the agency were at alert at the airport putting their trainings and machinery to practice, and stressed the need for more training of officers and funding of the agency, advising would-be traffickers to steer clear of the airport.