The large haul of cocaine, the biggest recovery in the country, was recovered by its personnel in collaboration with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.
Nigeria's anti-narcotic agency, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has destroyed part of 1.8 tons of cocaine recently seized in a drug bust.
The large haul of cocaine, the biggest recovery in the country, was recovered by its personnel in collaboration with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, from a warehouse in the Ikorodu area of Lagos last week.
Femi Babafemi, spokesman for the agency, in a statement on Tuesday, recalled that five suspects including a Jamaican were arrested in connection to the drug trafficking.
Babafemi said the agency sought and obtained an order of the Federal High Court in Lagos for the “public destruction of the consignment” which is the largest in the agency’s history.
The NDLEA Director, Prosecution and Legal Services, Deputy Commander General of Narcotics (DCGN), Sunday Joseph who represented the Chairman of the agency, Buba Marwa, said the street value of the drug was estimated at $278,250,000 (N194, 775,000,000).
He said out of the 1.8 tons of seized cocaine, 1,828 blocks will be crushed and burnt.
However, he said the rest will be secured for the purpose of litigation against the suspects who witnessed the procedure and signed the certificate of destruction.
“The Agency is proceeding with the prosecution of those arrested in connection with this consignment. On this, the public can rest assured that NDLEA shall pursue the trial to a logical conclusion.
“Since January 25, 2021, when we commenced our offensive action against drug traffickers, the agency has secured record convictions. Presently, 2, 904 drug offenders are serving various jail terms, while other cases are ongoing in court, which we are confident will end in positive results too,” he said.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that those arrested in connection with the drug trafficking are Soji Jibril, 69, from Ibadan, Oyo State; Emmanuel Chukwu, 65, from Ekwulobia in Anambra State; Wasiu Akinade, 53, from Ibadan, Oyo State; Sunday Oguntelure, 53, from Okitipupa in Ondo State and Kelvin Smith, 42, from Kingston, Jamaica.
The suspects are said to be members of an international drug syndicate that the agency had been trailing since 2018.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the class A drugs were warehoused in the residential estate from where the cartel was trying to sell them to buyers in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. They were stored in 10 bags and 13 drums.