The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said it arrested 9,824 suspected drug offenders and recovered 316,365.47 kilogrammes of illicit drugs in 2018.
The Head of Public Affairs of the agency, Mr Jonah Achema, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
Achema said that 9,122 of the nabbed suspects were males, while 702 were females, adding that the agency prosecuted 1,245 offenders during the period.
He said that the agency secured 1,236 convictions, while seven cases were acquitted and two struck out.
According to him, from the total number of kilogrammes of drugs recovered, Cannabis Sativa weighed 271,812 kilogrammes, while Codeine cough syrups intercepted was 16,039 kilogrammes.
He also stated that the agency destroyed 3,660 hectares of cannabis farms during the period and recovered 40 tonnes of the weed abandoned on the farms.
The spokesman added that the agency discovered a temporary warehouse in a forest bordering Uteh, a community in Ondo State, where 130 tonnes of cannabis were stored.
In order to ensure that drugs seized do not find their way back into the society and not to constitute threat to public health, the agency sustained its public destruction of drug exhibits by burning.
Cumulatively, the agency publicly destroyed 375,371.79 kilogrammes of illicit substances.
The agency encouraged the government to intensify their efforts at combating both drug demand and supply, while improving access to treatment for addicts.
Source (Thisday, Wednesday, May 8, 2019.)
Source Link>>> https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/05/07/ndlea-arrested-9824-suspected-drug-offenders-in-2018-says-official/
[oa_social_sharing_icons]