NDLEA Bursts Cannabis Hideout, Arrests Suspects In Edo

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have busted a cannabis syndicate operating in the Opuje forests in Opuje Community, Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State.
The cannabis were kept in a massive warehouse, and tents. Following the discovery, over 317,417 kilograms (317.4 metric tons) of the psychoactive substance were also destroyed and set ablaze in the forest.
Disclosing the information, the director, Media and Advocacy of the Anti-Drug Agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Saturday, added that a police impersonator, Omoruan Theophilus, was arrested during the two-day operation.
Babafemi stated that the 37-year-old impostor paraded himself as a police inspector to convey the drugs from the forests to the cities. Other suspects arrested in connection with the drug included Aigberuan Jacob (42), Ekeinde Anthony Zaza (53) and Naomi Patience Ohiewere (42).
“The Opuje community in Owan West Local Government Area, Edo State, is notorious for cannabis cultivation, where the cartels invest huge resources, cutting down economic trees in the forest reserves and cultivating cannabis on a large scale, running into hundreds of hectares.
“After harvest, they built warehouses inside the forest reserves and employ the services of armed youths to protect the warehouses 24/7.
“Accessing the forest on Wednesday January 18 took hours of trekking by hundreds of NDLEA operatives who were ambushed with bonfire by armed youths on their way out of the community the following day but were able to successfully leave the area without any casualty.” the statement from the NDLEA read.
In a related development, the agency has intercepted and impounded a container-load of Tramadol worth N6billion in Lagos State. This was disclosed in a statement issued by Femi Babafemi.