Lokoja – The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Kogi command, has arrested a truck driver carrying 1,126.9kg of cannabis sativa (Indian hemp) worth over N5 million.
NDLEA commander in Kogi, Alhaji Idris Bello, made the disclosure on Wednesday while parading the suspect and three others before journalists in Lokoja.
He said that the driver was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday near Kabba junction on the Lokoja-Abuja highway.
He said that the illicit drug was concealed in 100 big bags.
Bello said that driver told NDLEA operatives that he was conveying the Indian hemp from Uromi in Edo State to Kaduna.
According to the commander, the driver attracted the attention of NDLEA patrol team when he hastily made a U-Turn on the highway when he sighted the road block mounted by the anti-narcotic agents.
He said that the driver and his passenger abandoned the vehicle and ran into the bush when they were chased by NDLEA operatives.
He said that the driver was arrested while the passenger escaped.
The NDLEA also paraded a suspected drug peddler at the Koton-Karfe market, arrested with 9kg of cannabis on Aug. 4.
The suspect told journalists that he engaged in the cannabis business to raise money to contest the governorship seat of Kogi State.
Others paraded included an apprentice tailor arrested on Aug. 7 at Akutupa in Kabba-Bunu Local Government while in possession of 7kg of cannabis and another who was caught with 200g on July 31 at Zango-Ofere.
Bello appealed to the state government to assist the command with logistics especially vehicles to carry out the task of ridding the society of illicit drugs.
He also urged community vigilance groups to assist the agency with information. (NAN)
