By USMAN ALIYU

The Edo Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it arrested 46 suspects and seized 39,983 kg of assorted illicit substances in July.

Mitchell Ofoyeju, State Commander of the agency disclosed this in Benin on Monday while presenting the command?s monthly scorecard.

Ofoyeju noted that the operations were driven by intelligence and targeted notorious drug flashpoints, including a dark spot on Ihama Road in Benin City.

?The July result reflects the ongoing commitment to dismantling drug trafficking operations in the state. We apprehended 46 drug suspects, comprising 38 males and 8 females.

?A total of seven cannabis farms, measuring 15.85 hectares across Oke Forest in Uhunmwonde and Ewere Forest in Uzebba, Owan West local government areas, were destroyed.

?In all, we successfully took 39,983.294 kg of narcotic drugs out of illicit circulation,? he said.

Ofoyeju gave the breakdown of the drugs to 39,977.644 kg of cannabis; 5.5753kg of psychotropic substances; 0.26g of methamphetamine and 0.0598g of cocaine.

Other included 5.8 litres of codeine syrup.

He said the command had also been actively engaged the communities through drug demand reduction initiatives.

?A total of 32 individuals with drug use problems received brief intervention counselling, while 11 others are currently undergoing rehabilitation in the command facility.

?The command equally organised multiple sensitisation programmes throughout the month, reaching an impressive audience of over 8,000 individuals within the period under review,? he said.

Among those arrested, he said, was a suspected drug baron and cannabis cultivator, who had been on the command?s wanted list since 2023.

He said that a 49 years old man, who hailed from Owan West Local Government was apprehended inside one of the cannabis farms, where 11 bags of processed cannabis weighing 115kg were seized.

According to him, another suspect, who hailed from Etsako West, was arrested along Uwarake Road, Auchi, with 22 parcels of skunk, a strong variant of cannabis, weighing 10.265kg.

?The drug was hidden inside garri in black bags,? he said.

Ofoyeju said a 48 years old man, who hailed from Akoko Edo area of the state, was apprehended along Igara-Auchi Road in Igara with five bags of cannabis weighing 36 kg hidden inside black polytene.

Reaffirming the agency?s resolve, Ofoyeju vowed to prosecute all suspects and dismantle drug cartels threatening public safety in Edo.

?We will not relent until drug trafficking networks are destroyed and our communities are free from their grip,? he said. (NAN)

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