The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Bayelsa State Command, Tuseday, said it arrested 140 drug traffickers and confiscated 404.411 kilogrammes of different types of narcotics in the state.
The agency’s Principal Staff Officer, Public Affairs, Mr. Ikenna Osakwe, said in a statement Tuesday that the agency recorded the success in 2015.
Osakwe said out of the suspected drug traffickers, 124 were males while 16 were females.
He said most of the arrested suspects were between the ages of 24 and 45 years.
He said: “Pertaining drug exhibits, a total of 404.411kg of various types of drugs were recovered and seized.
“Precisely, Cannabis Sativa accounted for 400.683kg, Cocaine 0.062kg, Heroin 0.033kg and psychotropic substances 3.633kg.
“Furthermore, 16 litres of Combine, aka ‘goskorine’, ‘monkey tail’ or ‘mukite’, a mixture of Cannabis Sativa and alcohol was also seized.
“It is worthy of note that N189, 370. 00 monetary exhibit was also seized in the year under review. The total value of the drugs seized was N2, 839,959.95.”
Osakwe said 27 convictions were secured by the agency while other cases were still at various stages of prosecution.
He added 96 drugs dependent persons were counselled in the Drug Demand Reduction Unit (DDRU) of the command.
He said of the number, 27 persons had successfully completed the three-month mandatory process of counseling while 12 of them were still undergoing the process.
Osakwe further said public enlightenment materials were also distributed during the command’s public enlightenment programmes to educate the people on the dangers of illicit drug trafficking and abuse and to teach intervention techniques for already drug dependent persons.
He said: “It is the hope of the Command that in 2016, the level of cooperation and synergy between the Command and relevant stakeholders in the war against illicit drug trafficking and abuse will significantly increase.
“In this wise, we wish to invite all of the relevant stakeholders, especially the state ministries of Women Affairs, Education, Youth and Sports Development among others, to be more active in partnership with the command.”
Osakwe acknowledged and appreciated Governor Seriake Dickson and his cabinet for the immense contributions and value added towards the progress and functioning of the command.
He urged Bayelsa residents to remain vigilant and report any incidences of illegal drug activities to the command to safeguard the health and well-being of all members of the society.
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