NDLEA destroys 317 tons of cannabis in Edo forest, arrests four

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has destroyed and set ablaze over 317,417 kgs (317.4 metric tons) of cannabis sativa in the Opuje forests of Edo State.

The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this on Saturday in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja.

Babafemi said that this happened barely hours after the Chairman, NDLEA, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, vowed to make life tough for drug barons and cartels in the new year if they failed to back out of the illicit trade.

He said that operatives of the agency have dealt a lethal blow to a cluster of cannabis syndicates operating in the said forest during the two-day operation.

“At least, a police impersonator, Omoruan Theophilus, 37, who parades as a Police Inspector to convey the drugs from the forests to the cities, was arrested.

“And three others: Aigberuan Jacob, 42; Ekeinde Anthony Zaza, 53, and Naomi Patience Ohiewere, 42, were also arrested in connection with the drugs,” he said.

Babafemi said that the Opuje community in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo is notorious for cannabis cultivation, where the cartels invest huge resources.

This, he said, involved cutting down economic trees of the forest and cultivating cannabis on a large scale, running into hundreds of hectares.