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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has said no fewer than 677 traffickers have been convicted and jailed between January and March 2022.
A spokesperson for the agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Wednesday, said within the period under review, a total of 3,359 arrests were made, while 65,915.891 kilogrammes of assorted drugs were seized.
“No fewer than 2,223 drug users were also counselled through brief interventions and rehabilitation in NDLEA facilities across the country in the first quarter of the year; figures that represent a fair balance between the agency’s drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.
“Lagos has the highest figure of drug seizures, with 22,192.62kg of illicit substances recovered from parts of the state, followed by the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command, Ikeja, also in Lagos, with 8,979.869kg of drugs seized between January and March, while Kano and Kaduna led the pack in the arrest of offenders with 194 arrests each within the same period. A total of 257 hectares of cannabis farms were destroyed in forests across Ondo state; 14.869 hectares suffered same fate in Edo and an hectare destroyed in Bayelsa state within the same period.
“A further breakdown of the drugs seized within the first quarter of the year shows cannabis leading the table in January with 8,205.75kg; followed by codeine -414.281kg; diazepam -192.459kg; tramadol -135.067kg; rophynol – 43.062kg and cocaine -24.32kg,” Babafemi added.
(PUNCH)
