In a major success in a the battle of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) against illegal drug deals, the agency had busted a major warehouse in a secluded estate in Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
The warehouse contained 1.8tons (1,855kgs) of crack cocaine, worth over $278, 250,000, equivalent of about N194, 775,000,000 in street value which were seized.
The Spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, said on Monday in Abuja that the seizure appeared to be the biggest singular cocaine seizure in the history of the agency’s operations.
According to him, at least, four drug barons including a Jamaican and the warehouse manager were arrested in the well coordinated and intelligence led operation that lasted two days across different locations in Lagos State.
“Kingpins of the cocaine cartel in custody include: 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.
“They are all members of an international drug syndicate that the agency has been trailing since 2018,” Babafemi said.
Located at 6 Olukuola crescent, Solebo estate, Ikorodu, the warehouse was raided on Sunday 18th September, 2022, while the barons were picked from hotels and their hideouts in different parts of Lagos between Sunday night and Monday 19th September.
A 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.
While commending all the officers and men of the agency involved in the extensive investigation including those of the American Drug Enforcement Administration, (US-DEA), Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) said the bust was a historical blow to the drug cartel and a strong warning that they would all go down if they failed to realise that the game had changed and stopped their illicit drug trafficking.
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