A rice farmer identified as Usani Ibiang, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for allegedly dealing in cannabis.
The NDLEA Cross River State Commander, Mrs. Anthonia Edeh, confirmed the arrest, saying: “Based on information on the criminal sales of drugs by one Usani Ibiang, we raided his premises where he was apprehended with dried weeds that tested positive for cannabis with a total weight of 74.5kgs.
“In addition, the sum of N880, 000 believed to be proceeds of drug trafficking was also recovered from him. The money had been tendered as exhibit and we have applied for an interim forfeiture at the Federal High Court.”
According to the agency’s Head of Public Affairs, Ofoyeju Mitchell, the arrest of the 45-year-old suspect was a timely warning to other drug dealers, that their days are numbered.
He added that Ibiang was apprehended in Ugep, Cross River State with dried weeds, which tested positive to cannabis and weighing about 74.5kg.
The suspect, in a statement made to the agency, confessed to dealing in illicit drugs business due to wrong advice from friends.
He also explained that he took to drug smuggling when the rice mill where he worked at a time shut down, throwing him into the labour market.
Ibiang said, “Life was so difficult that I could not provide for my wife and three children. It was in the process of searching for other means of livelihood that I was wrongly advised by friends to smuggle drugs. This is my first time of being arrested and I regret my action.”
The Acting Chairman, NDLEA, Mrs. Roli Bode-George, reacting to Ibiang’s arrest, noted that unemployment was not an excuse for drug trafficking.
According to her, the suspect would be charged for unlawful possession and dealing in cannabis, and that if convicted “The recovered money will also be forfeited.
“By doing this, drug trafficking will become unattractive. He could be sentenced to life imprisonment in line with the NDLEA Act,” she stressed.
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