The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully secured the conviction of two notorious drug kingpins: 37-year-old Ajetsibo Emami popularly known as ‘Warri Kinsman’ and 51-year-old Solomon Akpomuai, who have been sentenced to a combined 10 years imprisonment by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.

Emami was arrested in Ikeja Lagos on Saturday June 28, 2025 after NDLEA operatives dismantled his drug trafficking network in a three-day operation leading to the arrest of three other suspects.

Items recovered from Emami’s network were 24 jumbo bags containing 681 pouches of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 414.2 kilograms.

Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy of the agency, in a statement yesterday, said the bust of Emami’s drug ring followed credible intelligence on his attempt to move the shipment to Lekki area of Lagos, from where it will be distributed to other parts of the state and across the country.

The statement said the convict was subsequently arraigned before Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court 8 Lagos in charge number FHC/L/636C/2025 bordering on dealing in illicit drugs.

In his ruling delivered on August 18, 2025, the trial judge convicted Emami on the one count charge filed against him by NDLEA prosecutor Assistant Commander of Narcotics Buhari Shuaibu Abdullahi and sentenced him to six years in prison with an option of N50million in lieu of jail.

In his case, Solomon Akpomuai was first arrested by men of Customs Service along Shagamu-Ijebu-Ode expressway with 2,197.8 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis on June 3, 2025 and transferred to NDLEA on June 16 after which he was arraigned in charge number FHC/L/635C before Justice Dipeolu for trafficking illicit drugs in large commercial quantity.

Also delivering his judgement on the matter, the trial judge convicted and sentenced Akpomuai to four years in prison with an option of N50 million fine.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) described the conviction of the two drug kingpins as an indication that Nigeria will sooner than later surmount the menace of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking as a result of the positive outcomes of the current balanced approach to the Agency’s drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts. He commended the judiciary, NDLEA officers involved in the investigation and prosecution of the cases as well as other stakeholders for their commitment to the cause of a drug free country. (Daily Sun)