By Our Reporter
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have raided the Lagos base of a high-profile cocaine syndicate led by a couple, Agbakoba John Mmadu and Agbakoba Ijeoma Chinwe, along with their associate, Okoye Ifeoma Maryjane. Large consignments of cocaine intended for export and local distribution were recovered.
The special operations unit of the Agency conducted the raid following months of intelligence gathering and surveillance on the syndicate, which is notorious for packaging, distributing, and trafficking cocaine within and outside Nigeria.
The 54-year-old Agbakoba John Mmadu was arrested at Ago Palace Way, Okota, while his wife, Agbakoba Ijeoma Chinwe, 39, and their associate, Okoye Ifeoma Maryjane, 31, who also served as their stash keeper, were apprehended at Plot 2205 Eugene Ndubisi Close, Lilly Estate, Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos, on Wednesday, July 3, 2024.
Seven parcels of cocaine with a total weight of 7.652 kilograms were recovered from Mmadu at Ago Palace Way. Additionally, 122 compressed pellets of the same drug, weighing 2.42 kilograms, were seized from Ijeoma and Ifeoma at Lilly Estate, bringing the total seizure to 10.1 kilograms valued at over N2.1 billion in street value.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives in Benue State intercepted a consignment of 350 grams of cocaine at a checkpoint along Enugu Road, Otukpo, on Thursday, July 4. The illicit drug was concealed in an MP3 speaker sent as a waybill parcel. A follow-up operation at Flight Motor Park in Otukpo led to the arrest of the owner, 25-year-old Odeh Anthony.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers on a stop-and-search operation along Ngurore–Yola Road in Adamawa State on Wednesday, July 3, arrested a Chadian, Yves Ahmat Gali, in a commercial bus coming from Kano to Yola. The suspect was found with a loudspeaker used to conceal 20 compressed blocks and nine plastic containers of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 5.200 kilograms.
In Kano, operatives arrested a youth corps member, Yusuf Abdulrahman, 25, at Corpers Lodge, Sumaila area, with 1.250 kilograms of Loud on Wednesday, July 3. In Osun State, the head of Akarabata community in Ile-Ife, Ba’ale Ige Babatunde, 50, was arrested on Friday, July 5, with fresh cannabis plants weighing 5 kilograms.
Additionally, two suspects, Monday Ali, 49, and Jimoh Alewi, 37, were arrested when NDLEA operatives raided Ikota Forest in Ifedore LGA, Ondo State. A total of 42,500 kilograms of cannabis was destroyed on 17 hectares of farmland, while 73.5 kilograms of the same substance was recovered for prosecution during a five-day operation that ended on Monday, July 1.
In Abuja, NDLEA operatives arrested Sanusi Mamman, 28, and Usaini Ibrahim, 20, in a vehicle along Abaji-Gwagwalada on Saturday, July 6, with 1,132 bottles of codeine syrup, 13,540 pills of tramadol, 50,000 pills of diazepam, and 59 pills of Rohypnol. The suspects claimed they were transporting the opioids from Onitsha, Anambra State.
The Agency’s Commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centers, workplaces, and communities over the past week. These activities included enlightenment lectures for students of Community Grammar School (Junior) in Aroro, Ibadan, Oyo State; Candy Secondary School in Agu Awka, Anambra State; Community High School in Umuida, Enugu Ezike, Enugu State; School for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Kofar Nasarawa, Kano State; and a sensitization lecture organized by Zone M Zonal Command of NDLEA at Sabo Motor Park, Kaduna.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of the Special Operations Unit and the Osun, Benue, Ondo, Kano, and FCT Commands for their arrests and seizures. He noted their balanced efforts in drug supply reduction and WADA sensitization activities, urging them and their counterparts across the country to maintain the momentum.