The Rivers State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said its operatives arrested 23 suspected drug peddlers and secured 17 convictions at the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, in March 2023.
The command said a total of 208.864Kg of drugs were recovered from the suspects that included six females.
The state command’s Public Affairs Officer, Media and Advocacy Unit, Emmanuel Ogbumgbada, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Monday.
Ogbumgbada said the 17 suspects convicted by the Federal High Court were currently serving various jail terms at the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre.
The statement read,
“On Thursday, April 6, 2023, around 5pm, operatives of the NDLEA Rivers State Command executed a raid operation at Odagwa, Etche and arrested one Angela Sunday in possession of 800grammes of methamphetamine, with a street value of N4m.
“She was also found with 250 grams of cannabis sativa and 59 grams of heroin.
“Still on the same operational stride, one Juliet Eze was found with 47 grams of cannabis sativa, seven grammes of methamphetamine, 3.5 grams of cocaine and three grammes of Heroin, respectively.”
The NDLEA spokesperson added that acting on an order from the agency’s Directorate of General Investigation and credible intelligence provided by a whistleblower, men of the command in Ahoada executed another raid operation at Omoku, around 9am on Friday and arrested one Monday Lucky with 2.5grammes of Methamphetamine and one gramme of cannabis sativa, respectively.
“Around 10.30am of Friday, April 7, 2023, our operatives at Okrika Area Command of the state arrested one Johnson Baadee with 4.3kg of cannabis sativa at Ogale – Eleme,” he added.
Continuing, the state command’s spokesman said,
“Meanwhile, in March 2023, the command arrested 23 drug peddlers, 17 males and six females with a total drug seizure of 208.864Kg comprising cocaine, heroin, cannabis sativa, methamphetamine (aka Mkpurunmiri) and psychotropic substances.
“The command also secured the conviction of 17 drug defendants at the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt. They are all serving their jail terms at the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre.”
The statement said the state NDLEA Commander, Ahmed Mamuda, urged residents of the state to volunteer useful information that would enable it to rid the society of illicit drugs.