NDLEA intercepts cocaine meant for insurgents

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Kogi State command, has intercepted substances suspected to be cocaine and other hard drugs being allegedly transported to insurgents in the North-East.

The command’s operatives, it was gathered, intercepted the drugs that weighed about 1,120.36 kg in the state on Thursday.

The state commandant of the Agency, Mr Alfred Adewumi, told journalists on Friday that within a space of about five hours, his men on a motorised patrol along Abuja- Lokoja highway were able to intercept and seize the illicit drugs, including cocaine and cannabis sativa.

He said some of the drugs were packaged inside charcoal sacks at the back of an open articulated vehicle while others were neatly concealed inside grains and unsuspected areas inside the vehicles.

Mr. Adewumi expressed displeasure over the rate of trafficking of illicit drugs in the state, describing the development as disturbing, adding that between January and June, 7,500kg of assorted drugs were intercepted.

He noted that most of the illicit drugs seized were being transported to the North-East where insurgents have held sway for many years.

He gave the names of suspects and the drivers arrested for cannabis sativa as Murtala Mohammed, Mohammed Bashir, Mohammed Sani, Ukasha Musa, and Abba Mukhtar.

One of the suspects arrested with cannabis, Mohamed Bashir who said he was selling the drugs in one of the states in the North-East confessed to committing the crime and pleaded for leniency, adding that the drug business thrives in the North-East.