NDLEA nabs wanted drug baron, intercepts 1,330kg skunkweed
Notorious supplier to Abuja drug joints arrested
IT was indeed a bleak Easter for the most wanted drug baron in Nasarawa State, Sami Ashoko, as he has been in custody, and his warehouse filled with skunkweed was also raided and 100 bags of the illicit drug weighing 1,095.3kg were seized.
The same fate also befell members of another cartel who were arrested in Iyamho, Etsako West Local Government area of Edo State and their illicit consignments weighing 1,330kg meant for Bauchi State equally seized. Both syndicates were busted on Friday while trying to distribute their illegal substances for the Easter sale.
In Nasarawa, Ashoko, 39, who hails from Ibilo in Akoko Edo area of Edo State, was arrested in Shinge, Lafia, based on intelligence.
A team of operatives had stormed his warehouse in Lafia and recovered 100 bags of cannabis weighing about 1.1 tonnes or 1095.3 kg.
According to the Commander, Nasarawa State Command of the NDLEA, Justice Arinze, “Sami Ashoko is the most wanted drug baron who has been on our watch list in Nasarawa State. This seizure has beaten the previous record of 45 bags weighing about half tonne recovered in January 2021 as the highest singular seizure of cannabis since the inception of the command in 1999. The seized consignment was meant for Easter sale, and which he expects to sell out in two weeks.” In a related development, two members of another drug cartel, Adamu Badamasi and Adamu Abba, were arrested same day in Edo State while trying to move
950 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 1,330kg, procured from Uzeba, Owan West Local Government area of the state to Bauchi State for Easter sale.
Commander of the Edo State Command of the antidrug law enforcement agency, Buba Wakawa disclosed that the arrest and seizure disrupted the Easter sale plan of the cartel, which tried to escape arrest through hinterland routes in their white colour Peugeot J5 space bus with registration number Lagos JJJ 722 XC.
In the same vein, another trafficker who supplies drugs to some notorious drug joints in Abuja was, at the weekend, arrested along Gwagwalada Expressway, FCT, while bringing 46 compressed blocks of cannabis for drug dealers in Mabushi and Banex areas of the capital city. The commander, FCT Command of the agency, Mohammed Salami Sokoto, said the notorious drug supplier had confessed being a major supplier of illicit substances to major drug joints in Abuja. Chairman/ Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, has commended officers and men of Nasarawa, Edo and FCT commands for their efforts, adding that the skunkweed seized was certainly less illicit substances available on the streets.