NDLEA Has Seized Over 100m Tramadol Pills In 22 Months - Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Retd)
Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Retd) yesterday said that the Agency has seized over 100 million pills of Tramadol in the past 22 months.
Marwa said the seized opioids were worth over N450 billion, adding that the narcotics could have impacted negatively on the youth population and national productivity in Nigeria.
He spoke during the Commands Awards/Commendations and decoration of newly promoted officers at the Agency’s National Headquarters, Abuja.
He said, within the period under review, the Agency arrested 23,907 drug traffickers including 29 barons.
He said, “Our seizure was over 5,500 tons or 5.5 million kilograms of assorted illicit drugs, which together with cash seized are worth over N450 billion.
“In the same period, we have taken the fight to the doorsteps of cannabis growers by destroying 772.5 hectares of cannabis farms. In these 22 months, we have record convictions of 3,434 offenders. We have equally made good strides in our drug demand reduction efforts where the number of those counselled and rehabilitated is 16, 114.
“The figures are mere statistics until you view them through the lens of human impact and the good or harm that could have come to society, the impact on public health, security as well as law and order if those dangerous drugs had gone to the street. Take, for instance, the one hundred million pills of tramadol seized in the past 22 months. If those pills had gone into circulation and ended up in the hands of young people, it would take a heavy toll on lives, families, productivity, and, ultimately, the GDP of the country because it will affect these young people who are the engine room of productivity.
“There is no gainsaying that our dedication to duty has been the driving force behind our good performance. At the same time, it is also not an exaggeration to say that our good performance is catalysed by motivation,” he said.
NDLEA zonal Commander for Adamawa, Taraba and Gombe states, Idris Bello, warned property owners not to rent their facilities to drug dealers, saying that in event of arrest and conviction, such landlords may forfeit their properties.
Bello spoke to our correspondent in Yola, warning drug barons to stay off the illicit business.
“Anybody who leases his house or vehicle for use of drug dealers will not be tolerated. You will lose that property. Report anyone who uses your property that way. Don’t let us make an arrest first because if we do, you may have no chance of retaining your property,” he said.
The zonal commander said the agency arrested a 28-year-old man, Usman Hassan, last week in Gombe with 662,500 tablets of diazepam weighing 173kg; 292,000 capsules of tramadol weighing 106kg; and 2,000 tablets of emzol weighing 59kg, all transported from Onitsha.
