The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Ebonyi has confiscated 126 kilogrammes (kg) of cocaine and 189 kg of cannabis sativa during a raid in notorious hideouts in the state.
The State Commander of the Agency, Mr Isa Adoro, made the disclosure while displaying the illegal drugs at its headquarters in Ntezi, adding that it also confiscated 26.7kg of psychotropic substances (tramadol).
Adoro said that the cocaine substances were confiscated in pinches from two suspects: Emmanuel Ikwuagwu and Olisah Abuah.
“The substances recovered from Ikwuagwu had 59 big pinches and 115 small pinches, totaling 174 pinches and measuring 80kg.
“The ones recovered from Abuah had 37 big pinches and 39 small pinches, totaling 76 pinches and measuring 46kg.
The NDLEA state commander said that the cannabis sativa were wrapped in four industrial, big bags measuring 189kg.
“We confiscated 600 ampules of tramadol injections weighing 3.3kg and 1,200 ampules of taramajen injections measuring 8.4kg.
“We also confiscated 20,000 tablets of phenobabitan tablets measuring 15kg and all these total 26.7kg,” he said.
He noted that four suspects were arrested in connection with the confiscated substances and would be prosecuted after forensic and related investigations were concluded.
“We will wait untill investigations are concluded to ascertain whether the female suspect is innocent after claiming that she did not know when the cocaine substances were thrown into her shop.
“We will send samples of the packages for expert-forensic analysis because that is what we will tender in court and rely on for the suspects’ prosecution,” he said.
He said that the agency would continue enlightening the Ebonyi populace on the dangers of hard drugs and intensify efforts to arrest and prosecute offenders.
“We arrested over 70 suspects in connection with illegal drugs since January 2019 and have secured several convictions in that regard.
“Relevant stakeholders in Ebonyi should assist us in enlightening the citizens to shun illegal drugs because out of the 11 convictions we had in October for instance, 10 are from Ebonyi while one came from Abia,” he said.
One of the suspects, Emmanuel Ikwuagwu admitted ownership of the cocaine substances, attributing his indulgence in the crime to hardship and the zeal to survive in life.
Another suspect, Olisah Abuah, told NAN that although he was caught with the substances, he actually picked them from where they were hidden during the raid and decided to sell them to earn a living. (NAN)
