NDLEA seizes 10,000kg marijuana, secures 241 convictions in Ondo

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, on Wednesday, said it sezed 10,000 kg of marijuana and secured the conviction of 241 suspects in Ondo State between June 2023 and May 2024.

The NDLEA Narcotics Commander in Ondo State, Mr Kayode Raji, said this after a sensitisation walk around parts of Akure metropolis on Monday to commemorate the 2024 United Nations Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Raji said that the command during the period under review also rehabilitated over 20 persons and counselled 18 others through its drug demand reduction programme in the state.

The Narcotics Commander said that 120 farmers cultivating marijuana on farmlands in different parts of the state were also arrested.

Raji said that the agency’s programmes across its areas of command in the state was with the objective of bringing awareness to the doorstep of everybody.

According to him, the agency is investing more into prevention of Illicit drug usage and planting, rather than announcement of numbers of arrests made.

“The joy in rehabilitation of drug dependant persons is that we don’t just rehabilitate and send them back to the society, we follow up on them, so that they don’t fall back to their old ways,” the commander said.

An NDLEA Ambassador and National Association of Nigeria Students official, Mr Seyi Ogundipe, said the day was important because of its objective to save youths from consumption of illicit drugs.

Ogundipe said that the national students body would continue to advocate a drug free society.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the theme of the 2024 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is: “Evidence is Clear, Invest In Prevention.”

The United Nations declared June 26 annually the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking to focus attention on the menace.

In March, NDLEA seized over 44,948.1kg of illicit drugs and arrested eight suspects in multiple raids across Lagos, Edo, and Ondo states.

The anti-narcotics agency also seized 11 vehicles owned by the drug cartels

(NAN)