By Akinwale Kasali
If not for the vigilance and of operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, fake Dollar notes amounting to $20 million would have found their way into the Foreign Exchange Market.
A Stop and Search Operation by officials of the NDLEA led to the discovery of the counterfeit notes. They were intercepted on the Lokoja-Abaji Highway.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Spokesman disclosed on Sunday in Abuja that the fake currencies were recovered from a bus travelling from Lagos to Abuja.
He stated that the 53-year-old driver of the vehicle, Onyebuchi Nlebedim, was arrested.
Babafemi stated also that one Jude Ndubuisi (52) was arrested in a raid on August 17 while in possession of 2.2kg of methamphetamine at Kabusa village, Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
He added that the suspect was earlier arrested on July 7, 2022, for being in possession of 20.75kg of Indian hemp and that he was on court bail when he was nabbed for yet another drug crime.
“Another raid on two notorious drug joints in the FCT – “Dei-Dei’’ and Tora-Bora Hills, led to the recovery of 82.8kg skunk, 1.8kg Rohypnol and 1.2kg diazepam on Wednesday, Aug. 16.
“In Osun, NDLEA operatives destroyed clusters of Indian hemp plantations measuring about 3.5 hectares (more than 7.5 tons) at Mopatedo in Ifedayo Local Government Area of the state on Saturday, Aug. 19.
“Two suspects – Sunday Otogbo (40), and Peter Makra (35), were arrested inside the Indian hemp farms.
“An additional 30kg of Indian hemp and 16.9kg of Indian hemp seeds were also recovered from the farms,’’ he stated.
Babafemi added that three other suspects – Ndubuisi Okorie (44), Ebilima Emmanuel (38), and Okechukwu Smart (40), were arrested on Aug. 19 in connection with 168kg of Indian hemp seized from them.
The suspects were arrested when their vehicle was intercepted on the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway, he stated.
“A shipment of 6,000 capsules of tramadol, 1,200 tablets of `swinol’, 155 bottles of codeine syrup and 20 tablets s of Molly was equally seized on the same road on Sunday, Aug. 13.
“A follow-up operation at Oyigbo area of Port Harcourt led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Remigius Ogechukwu (33),’’ Babafemi added.
He stated also that a teenager, Boniface Odinakachukwu (19), was arrested with a 99.4kg skunk at Isikwe Road, Achi in Oji-River Local Government Area of Enugu State on Friday, Aug. 18.
The NDLEA spokesman added that a wanted 19-year-old bandit, Aliyu Mohammed Altine, was arrested by NDLEA operatives on Illela-Sokoto Road with some wraps of skunk on Thursday, Aug. 17.
Altine was on the wanted list of the police and has since been handed over to the police in Sokoto State for further investigation, Babafemi stated.
