The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA), Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA),Lagos Airport Command said that it seized 979.667 kgs of illicit drugs between January 2021 to date.
This was disclosed by the Commander, NDLEA, MMIA,Mr. Garba Ahmadu during a courtesy visit of the new Executive of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents(LAAC) to the command today.
A breakdown of the statistics of impounded drugs between January till date revealed that a total of 63.217 kg of Cocaine, 0.950grms of Heroine, 13.3 kg of Cannabis sativa and over 500 kgs of khat leaves were seized within that period.
He also disclosed that the Command arrested 14 drug suspects and that it has successfully convicted 12 persons.
“Between January 2021 to March, the command has seized 979.667 kgs of illicit drugs. These include 63.217 kg of cocaine, 0.950grms of heroine, 13.3 kg of cannabis sativa and over 500 kgs of khat leaves.
Speaking further, Ahmadu said that the Command also made the largest single seizure of 26.850 kg of Cocaine and that it was trafficked by a lady.
The quantity, he said was more than a half bag of rice.
“We also arrested 14 suspects within the period. Again, we have been able to secure 14 prosecutions in the court. These are out of the numbers that were taken and successfully prosecuted and get convictions for 12 people.
“I think what I want to stress is that this year, we are able to have the largest single seizure of 26.850 kg of Cocaine. This is very interesting because it was brought in by a lady. If you look at, this is more than half a bag of rice and if you look at how she did it, she just checked it in as a check-in luggage and passed it through. That is a very serious seizure. I think our officers should be commended for this.
“We have huge seizure of cocaine this year. This is a little different from what is obtained in previous years. In the first quarter of 2020, we had some huge seizures, but not the same for 2018 and 2019.”
On collaboration with other agencies, Ahmadu said that it had a good relationship with all the stakeholders in the aviation industry and that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria(FAAN) has been a very good partner to the Command.
“There are so many stakeholders at the airport and my relationship with them has been fantastic, starting with FAAN. FAAN has been a good partner in enabling us do our work. The scanners at the entry and exit points of the airport belong to FAAN and that is what we use to scan luggage. Aside from that we have instances where we do a lot of follow-up and the only thing we can rely on is the CCTV cameras of FAAN. So, they have been up and doing in helping us to win the war against illicit drugs.”
He added that other security agencies have been supporting the Command positively to make sure NDLEA actualizes its mandate, adding that by and large, “I will say we have all the support we can get.”