May 29 Inauguration: 534 Suspects Arrested As NDLEA Raids Drug Joints Nationwide

A total of 534 suspected drug traffickers have been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) across the country.

The arrest followed the launch of a nationwide raid of drug joints in an exercise code-named “Operation Mop Up”.

The raid was part of law enforcement efforts to remove enablers of crime and violence in the forms of illicit substances and those who deal in them in order to ensure a peaceful inauguration of new administrations at national and state levels across Nigeria on May 29.

During the raid, tons of illicit drugs including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, tramadol, codeine-based syrup, cannabis sativa, and various new psychoactive substances among others, were recovered across the states and the FCT.

Some of the states with high arrests and seizures are Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Kaduna, Rivers, Bayelsa, Adamawa, Osun, Benue, and Plateau.

In a remark, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) who ordered the operation commended all the officers and men of the state commands and other formations involved in the exercise for their professionalism and following the NDLEA standard operating procedure.

“I’m impressed by the level of compliance with the directive to all our commands and formations to dismantle all drug joints within their areas of responsibility, mop up all illicit substances in such locations and arrest all those culpable.

“This will in no small measure take out of the equation, enablers of crime and violence such as illicit drugs, their dealers and all those relying on mind-altering substances to disrupt the May 29 inauguration ceremonies across the states and the Federal Capital Territory”, Marwa stated.

Marwa charged them to continue with the operational maxim of ‘offensive action’ against drug cartels and traffickers until the last gram of illicit drug is taken out of the streets and communities across the country.

In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that Abia State Governor-elect, Alex Otti has reacted to the Kano court judgment dismissing his candidacy and other Labour Party (LP) candidates in Abia and Kano States.