NDLEA announces ‘biggest cocaine seizure in Nigeria’s history’
Nigeria’s anti-narcotic agency has announced what it described as the “biggest cocaine seizure in Nigeria’s history.
According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the drugs, some of which were hidden in drums and travelling bags, were discovered at a warehouse, located at 6 Olukuola Crescent, Solebo Restate, Ikorodu,in the Ikorodu division of Lagos state.
Femi Babafemi, the agency’s spokesperson, in a statement he released Monday, said the four drug barons were arrested in connection to the seizure.
They are Messrs Soji Jibril, 69, an indigene of Ibadan, Oyo state; Emmanuel Chukwu, 65, who hails from Ekwulobia, Anambra state; Wasiu Akinade, 53, from Ibadan, Oyo state; Sunday Oguntelure, 53, from Okitipupa, Ondo state and Kelvin Smith, 42, a native of Kingston, Jamaica.
The drugs, the NDLEA said, weigh 1.8tons (1,855 kilograms), with estimated street value of “more than Two Hundred and Seventy Eight Million Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($278, 250,000), equivalent of about One Hundred and Ninety Four Billion, Seven Hundred and Seventy Five Million (N194, 775,000,000) Naira.”
The agency says it’s “preliminary investigation reveals the class A drugs were warehoused in the residential estate from where the cartel was trying to sell them to buyers in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. They were stored in 10 travel bags and 13 drums,” the statement said.
