The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it arrested one Henry Chukwuneku Okamaru who is allegedly responsible for 2000kg of cannabis hidden in a concrete-mixer truck.
In December 2021, NDLEA published a video showing where its operatives were bringing out items said to be cannabis from a concrete-mixer truck.
The anti-drug agency had said the 2000kg cannabis hidden in the truck were loaded from Ondo state and transported to Adamawa state, where it was intercepted.
Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, alleged that Okamaru was responsible for the cannabis consignment and that the agency’s investigations reveal that he is one of the leaders of a cannabis cultivation cartel in Ondo-Ekiti axis.
“Wanted drug kingpin behind the 2000.6kg Cannabis Sativa seized in a concrete mixer truck in Adamawa State on 2nd December 2021, Henry Chukwuneku Okamaru (a.k.a. Lawrence Ik Okamaru) has been arrested in Ondo state after five months of manhunt by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA,” the statement reads.
“Two suspects: Matthew Donuwe and Friday Nmborgwu were arrested in connection to the consignment last December.
“They had confessed that the concrete mixer truck with Lagos registration number SMK 890 XB was loaded with the illicit drug in Ogbese, Ondo state while they travelled for two months on the road before arriving in Adamawa where they were eventually arrested by NDLEA operatives.
“Investigations reveal that Okamaru is one of the leaders of a cannabis cultivation cartel that operates in the Ondo-Ekiti axis, while he shuttles between Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo and Delta State from where he coordinates supplies of illicit consignments to northern parts of the country and Lagos State.”
The anti-drug agency also said it arrested Nwakanma Michael Uche, a 36-year-old Italy-based Nigerian, for ingesting pellets of heroin.
The NDLEA said Uche was arrested at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while trying to board a plane to Italy on May 15, 2022.
“Meanwhile, a 36-year-old Nigerian based in Italy, Nwakanma Michael Uche has been arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA Abuja for ingesting pellets of heroin,” the statement reads.
“Nwakanma who hails from, Arodizuogu Village, Ideato Local Government Area of Imo State was nabbed while trying to board Air France Airline enroute Abuja-Paris-Milan, Italy on Sunday 15th May 2022.
“He was thereafter kept under observation during which he excreted 95 pellets of the illicit drug.
“He claimed he came to see his parents in Nigeria after 12 years in Italy and to complete his father’s traditional marriage rites. He added that he was to be paid N1.5million after a successful delivery of the drugs in Milan.”
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