Over N130bn Worth Of Cocaine, Others, Confiscated From Drug Barons In 12 Months – Presidency

Over N130bn worth of illicit drugs and cash were seized in 2021 from drug barons following the war against drug abuse and trafficking by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

The information is contained in a Presidency document obtained by THE WHISTLER highlighting the achievements of the current administration in the area of security.

The document prepared by the presidency revealed that a total of 3.4 million kilograms of assorted illicit drugs were confiscated in 2021 while 406 hectares of Cannabis farms were destroyed.

It said the NDLEA also arrested 12,306 drug traffickers and secured the 1,400 convictions.

These achievements articulated by the presidency confirm an earlier report by this website, where the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi exclusively said a total of 1,502 cases from 2021 are still ongoing as of March 2022.

Babafemi who represented the Chief Executive Officer/ Chairman of the agency, Gen Buba Marwa, at THE WHISTLER Forum said the seizures in 2021 were the largest in the history of the NDLEA.

He attributed the feat to the passion of the chairman, who upon his emergence concentrated on boosting the morale of existing men and officers of the agency.

The NDLEA Spokesman said the chairman also addressed the issues of promotion as many officials had “spent 5-15 years and up to 20 years on a single rank.”

He added, “A number of them had issues with their rank regularisation. Then a number of them were owed allowances, and there was no promotion; even those who died in the line of duty the basic thing that ought to be done for them like payment of burial expenses were owed upward of 14 years thereabout.

“So, all those when you put them together affected the morale of the officers.

“So, when he (Marwa) came, they were the first set of things he took head-on. Soon after he took over, we had the promotion of 3,506 officers and men, and that changed the perception of the staff.

“Then apart from the promotion, he also met with the president and got the president’s intervention to pay off the families of 188 officers and men who died in the line of duty.

“They had been owed since 2014 for their burial expenses and other entitlements, but they were immediately paid after the president intervened.”

Babafemi also attributed other motivating factors to the anti-drug war to include the creation of new directorates; restructuring of old directorates; expanding of the commands and the creation of 14 zonal commands.