About 719 suspected drug traffickers have been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in Nasarawa and Kano states.
Out of the figure, 180 were arrested by the Nasarawa State chapter of the NDLEA for being in possession of over 3,331 kg of narcotics.
Commandant of the agency in the state, Mr. Sumaila Ethan, who made this disclosure during a press briefing in Lafia, the state capital, said 47 drug barons had been convicted ,while 133 had been counselled and rehabilitated.
He disclosed that the command had also arrested a 40-year-old drug baron, Mr. Christain Okeke, for being in possession of 108 cartons of tramadol 225mg, weighing 2,873.88 kg.
He was arrested on December 7, 2017 in Masaka, Karu Local Government Area of the state.
Ethan said, “Our operational activities between January and December, 2017 revealed an increase in the number of arrests/seizures above that of last year, especially in the abuse of psychotropic substances, such as tramadol, codeine, among others.
“It may interest you to note that tramadol, which is an opiate similar to heroin in its addictive nature, has become the most abused psychoactive substance in the state.”
Meanwhile, the Kano State Commandant of the NDLEA, Alhaji Hamza Umar, on Friday in Kano, the state capital, said the agency seized drugs weighing 17,113.464kg, as well as arrested 619 suspected drug traffickers between January and December 2017.
Umar, who said the agency had had the support of Civil Society Organisations and the Kano Steering Committee, made the disclosure during a briefing with journalists.
According to him, the suspects were arraigned before the Federal High Court in the state while the command secured 165 convictions during the year.
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