The Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), has reacted to the arrest of seven drug barons operating four large warehouses in Ukpuje forest, Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State.
In a statement on Sunday, Marwa warned drug barons and traffickers against dealing in the illegal trade, adding that his agency was poised to arrest criminals and make them face the consequences of their crime.
He said a total of 16, 344 bags of cannabis and seeds, weighing 233, 778kg were seized, in addition to two pump-action and one double-barrel gun estimated at over N1.4 billion were seized.
Marwa named the suspects as Emmanuel Oki, the chairman of the vigilante group in Ukpuje; Chief Odi Sabato, and Bright Inemi Edegbe. Others are Gowon Ehimigbai, Enodi Ode, Ayo Oni, and Akhime Benjamin.
The NDLEA boss noted that the suspects are in NDLEA custody and promised to charge them to court soon.
Naija News reports that the Edo State Commander of the anti-drug agency, Buba Wakawa, had said Edo Cannabis village was the largest single concentration of cannabis discovered by the command.
Wakawa gave the breakdown of the drugs as follows: 318 bags of 80kg each weighing 25,440kg; 15,853 bags of 13kg weighing 206,089kg.
He said while the total quantity seized was 2,249kg, others weighing 231,529kg were destroyed inside the warehouses.
The NDLEA official ascribed the success of the operation to the enabling environment created by the new Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency, General Buba Marwa.