The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered a shrine guarded by a snake, used for storing illicit drugs in the Egor community near Benin, Edo State.
According to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, operatives raided the shrine after discovering a concealed large hole in a wall covered with wallpapers and fetish items.
Various quantities of illicit substances including methamphetamine, Loud, Colorado, Arizona, and potent strains of cannabis were found during the operation. A total of 8.743 kilograms of drugs were retrieved from the deep hole in the shrine’s wall.
During the intelligence-led operation on June 18, two women, Sonia Ezumezu and Risikatu Tijani, were arrested after neutralizing the large black snake guarding the shrine, Babafemi disclosed.
In a separate incident on June 22, two suspects, Obi Ferguson (45) and Ernest Abanum (46), were apprehended for alleged drug possession.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives raided the Usen forest in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo, seizing 209 kilograms of cannabis and a motorcycle.
In Lagos State, NDLEA officers intercepted a meticulously packaged consignment of 8.2 kilograms of methamphetamine at a motor park in Mazamaza, Ojo area. The illicit substance, known as ice or crystal meth, was concealed in the casing of three loudspeakers wrapped in imported Dunkin’ turtle love chocolate packaging. A 39-year-old suspect transporting the consignment to Owerri, Imo State, was swiftly arrested on June 19.
Additionally, NDLEA operatives in Abuja intercepted a white Nissan Frontier pickup truck with amber lights and a counterfeit security agency registration number at Kiyi village in the Kuje area of the Federal Capital Territory on June 18.
The vehicle was loaded with 454 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 340.8 kilograms, sourced from Uzeba, Edo State.
A 76-year-old grandfather, connected to the drug consignment, was arrested and confessed to being involved in the illicit drug trade for a decade, according to Babafemi.