By Bisola Adeyemo
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) raided some eateries and lounges in the Plateau State capital.
It also recovered some baked cakes made with cannabis sativa (marijuana)
Also recovered were some assorted psychotropic substances weighing 48.7 kilogrammes.
According to a statement on Monday by the spokesman of the anti-drug agency, Femi Babafemi, some of the drug joints raided within the Jos metropolis included KNL Lounge located along Lamingo road and another branch along Mining Quarters, Rantya Low Cost Estate, as well as Tuscany Lounge on Azaki Avenue.
He said besides the drugged cakes called brownie recovered from the three eateries, psychotropic substances also seized from the eateries included: Barcadin Codeine — 14 kilogrammes, Flunitrazapem — 355.5 grammes; Tramadol — 370.1 grammes; Exol — 5.30 kilogrammes; Diazepam — 2.5 kilogrammes and Pentazocine — 1.5 kilogrammes; all totalling 48.7 kilogrammes.
The Plateau Commander of the NDLEA, Ibrahim Braji, disclosed that five persons have so far been arrested in connection to the seized drugs.
In a similar development, according to a report gathered by the nation, the Enugu State Command of the Agency also at the weekend raided the Nsukka axis of the state capital, where a 28-year-old lady, Oodo Ndidiamaka, was arrested with 80.2 grammes of cocaine and 3.8 grammes of methamphetamine.
The Enugu State Commander of NDLEA, Abdul Abdullahi, said the command remains committed to unravelling other members of the drug cartel in the state.
In another clampdown, operatives of the Niger State Command of the Agency have arrested a 24-year-old 400-level student of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Abel Idio, for allegedly selling two strong variants of cannabis, Arizona and loud, concealed in textbooks.
He was arrested in Gidan Kwano within the vicinity of the university.
According to the Niger State Commander of the Agency, Haruna Kwetishe, “Abel uses the inner pages of his textbooks to conceal the drugs within the campus to sell.”
He said that Abel was arrested on Friday April 30, 2021, while two other traffickers — Yahaya Joshua and Yahaya Audu — were arrested the previous day along Mokwa-Jebba road with 32 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa.
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), in his reaction, commended the Plateau, Enugu and Niger Commands of the Agency for disrupting the activities of drug cartels in their respective states.
He however charged them to remain relentless in pursuit of the Agency’s mandate to rid Nigeria of illicit drugs.