Marwa: 14,480 drug suspects arrested in 10 months

Buba Marwa, chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), says the agency arrested 14,480 suspected drug traffickers between January and October this year.

Marwa spoke in Abuja on Wednesday while briefing members of the House of representatives committee on narcotic drugs.

He said the suspected criminals arrested were connected to the seizure of 2.4 million kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs.

Marwa said operatives of the agency successfully located and destroyed 547,378 kilogrammes of cannabis plantations and secured 2,867 convictions within the same period.

“Our seizures in 10 months amounted to 2.4 million kilogrammes of illicit drugs, which also surpassed last year’s record. We can say with certainty that we are on course to beat the performance of the previous three years,” he said.

“Between January 1 and October 30, we recorded 14,480 arrests of drug offenders, including 15 drug barons.

“Within the same period, we were able to secure 2,867 convictions in court. This is far more than what we have achieved in each of the past three years.

“Our seizures in 10 months amounted to 2.4 million kilograms of illicit drugs, which also surpassed last year’s record. We successfully located and destroyed 547,378 kilogrammes of cannabis plantations.

“Similarly, our drug demand reduction figure is on the positive side. In the past 10 months, the agency counselled and rehabilitated 6,655 drug users.

“We conducted a total of 3,064 awareness campaigns and sensitisation lectures in schools, motor parks, worship centres, workplaces, and communities, among others, which reached 1,327,181 people.”

The NDLEA boss said the agency secured the largest single heroin seizure of 51.90 kg in the history of the agency at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos in February.

“We secured life imprisonment sentences for some notorious drug traffickers; the arrest of the most wanted drug barons in Lagos, the recent passage of the NDLEA Act amendment bill, and some of the milestones of the agency in 2024,” he said.