NDLEA Intercepts 1,194 Abuja-Bound Cylinders of Laughing Gas, Arrests Suspects

No fewer than 1,194 cylinders of Nitrous Oxide popularly called laughing gas, en route to Abuja for distribution have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The operatives intercepted the consignment weighing 2,547.2 kilograms on Friday along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway.

The NDLEA said the suspects loaded the consignment in two Toyota Sienna buses and upon examination were arrested and taken into custody.

The suspects include Onyebuchi Ikpozu and Kenneth Igwe.

According to agency, one of the Toyota Sienna buses marked KTU 582 HV was conveying 99 cartons containing 594 cylinders weighing 1,267.200kgs and the other, with registration number FKJ 329 YA was conveying 100 cartons of the substance with 600 cylinders weighing 1,280kgs.

Also in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), NDLEA operatives intercepted 977 kilograms of skunk on Wednesday in a trailer marked LSR 343 XW, bearing cartons of maggi.

The skunk consignment was loaded into the truck at Ipele junction in Ondo state.

“While 959 kgs of the substance were meant for distribution in Sokoto state, the rest was to be dropped off at Gwagwalada,” the agency said.

The NDLEA said it arrested two suspects: Auwal Mohammed and Abdullahi Abubakar in connection with the seizure, while two other suspects, Mutari Abdulazeez and Ayuba Madaki were also arrested on Saturday in the Zuba area of the FCT.

The suspects arrested in Zuba possessed different quantities of methamphetamine, cannabis and 13, 930 pills of tramadol.

The anti-drug officers also intercepted a total of 183 kgs of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis, concealed in compartments of a J5 bus in Lagos State.