WorldStage Newsonline-- The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully intercepted 227.055 kilogramme of drugs at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos in the first half of the year. The drugs which were seized from 63 suspected traffickers between January and June 2012 at the Lagos airport have an estimated local value of 2.5 billion naira.
The NDLEA Airport Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, gave the breakdown of the seized drugs as follows; cannabis, 72.350kg, methamphetamine 46.25kg, cocaine 43.505kg, heroin 33.15kg and ephedrine 31.8kg. According to Hamza, “a total of 63 suspected drug traffickers were apprehended between January and June 2012. Male suspects are 53 while females are 10. The command also recorded two abandoned seizures within the period under review. The first was 16kg of heroin in April and 160 grammes of methamphetamine in June”.
Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said that the Agency will continue to financially incapacitate drug traffickers through prompt seizures of drugs. In his words, “the efforts of the NDLEA are better appreciated when drug seizures are computed and analyzed. The cheering news is that we have taken away the sum of 2.5 billion naira worth of drugs in our local market estimates from drug barons. In international markets, this value could be five times higher. The Agency will continue to enhance peace and safety through regular drug seizures and prosecution of drug offenders”.
The NDLEA boss added that with improved funding, better logistics and enhanced welfare package for officers, we hope to surpass current results in the days ahead. He also appealed to members of the public to be active stakeholders in the fight to eradicate narcotics in the country.
Among those arrested was a 48 year-old woman, Mande Fatima Bala who set a new record in narcotic smuggling in the country. She inserted 66 wraps of substances that tested positive for methamphetamine weighing one kilogramme in her private parts as she attempted to board a Kenyan Airways flight to Nairobi. It is worthy of note that no suspect has ever inserted such a large quantity of drugs in private part since the establishment of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in 1989.
