The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Popoola Abayomi, a serving officer of a law enforcement agency, for allegedly selling illicit drugs to students of a federal university in Ogun state.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA director of media and advocacy, in a statement on Sunday, said the officer serves in the Lagos state command of the law enforcement agency.
He, however, did not name the agency the suspected officer is attached to; the name of the institution was also not given.
The suspect is said to have been arrested on June 15, after days of surveillance on his wife’s shop used as his sales point in the camp area of Abeokuta.
According to Babafemi, one of the officer’s salesmen, a motorcycle rider, was trailed to the location at about 8pm and arrested with “six pinches of colorado weighing 1.17grams”.
“This was before the principal suspect, who has been on the Agency’s watch list, was nabbed with different illicit drugs,” he said.
He gave the breakdown of the substances found on him to include “codeine – 17 bottles; cannabis – 22.26grams; tramadol, 230 tablets – 98grams; 61 tablets of flunitrazepam – 23.72grams; 113 tablets of molly – 48.16grams and sex drops – 43.92grams.
“After the arrest of the two suspects, some student union officials of the institution blocked the NDLEA team with their official vehicle,” Babafemi said.
“The narcotics agents, however, restrained themselves and after hours of the standoff, succeeded in moving the suspects to custody.”
In a related development, Babafemi said Adelodun Kamaldeen, another suspected drug dealer, was arrested by operatives of the Oyo state command of the agency at general area, Ilorin, Kwara.
He said Kamaldeen was arrested following the interception of a parcel containing cocaine and heroin that weighed 10.5grams and 4.8grams, respectively, on June 13.
“The following day, two ladies, aged 40 and 39, respectively, were arrested at Total Garden, Ibadan, when NDLEA operatives acting on a tip-off, intercepted their commercial micra car,” the statement reads.
“The two women were arrested with seven bags of cannabis weighing 77.23kg brought in from Ogbese, Ondo state, to supply a man they simply identified as Alhaji.
“According to them, they had earlier supplied the same Alhaji two bags before coming with the seven bags they were caught with.”
Babafemi said operatives of the Oyo command, acting on intelligence, also raided the residence of another “alhaji” at Elebu area, Akala expressway, Oluyole LGA, Ibadan, on June 18, and recovered “43 ampoules of methylphenidate”.
In another development, Babafemi said a Nigerian returning from Pakistan was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
Babafemi explained that the suspect had arrived at the “D” arrival hall of the airport on June 14, on a Turkish airline flight from Pakistan, with five pellets of heroin weighing 250grams, found in his anus.
Commending the officers for the arrests, Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, warned that the agency would not spare any law enforcement personnel “hiding under the privilege of his uniform to engage in narcotic criminal business”.
“Those who think they can sabotage ongoing efforts to rid Nigeria of the menace of illicit drug trafficking and abuse hiding behind the façade of their uniforms should better think twice because they’ll have NDLEA to contend with,” he said.
“We’ll not only arrest and expose them, but we’ll equally prosecute them and seize all assets acquired through the proceeds of their criminal act.”
