Three kingpins and 16 other offenders have been convicted and sentenced to a total of 302 years in prison for trafficking and dealing in illicit drugs.
This followed their arrest and prosecution by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
Grassroots Parrot gathered that the illicit drugs they were dealing with included cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis, and opioids.
A statement issued by Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA’s spokesman, on Friday said the 19 convicts top the list of 414 drug traffickers and dealers convicted by the Federal High Court in Benue, Bauchi, Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Gombe, and Abuja between July 1st and 31st, 2024.
Babafemi said one of the three kingpins, 50-year-old Bolanle Lookman Dauda, was arrested in an intelligence-led raid by operatives of a special operation unit in NDLEA at Ibiye, along the Lagos-Badagry expressway, while attempting to cross the land border to deliver the consignment in Ghana on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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“At the point of his arrest, 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms were found on him. A swift follow-up operation in his residence at Plot 24/25 OPIC extension, Petedo Road, Agbara, Ogun State, led to the recovery of an additional eight blocks of the same drug weighing 10 kg, bringing the total weight of the cocaine seized from him to 57.5 kilograms.
“He was subsequently arraigned before Hon. Justice Ambrose Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in charge number FHC/L/537C/2024. In his judgment delivered on July 19, 2024, Justice Allagoa convicted and sentenced him to 21 years imprisonment or payment of an option of a N30 million fine.” He said.
The statement also mentioned another 34-year-old, Ikeh Stanley Ifeanyi, who was arrested at the popular Idumota market in Lagos Island, where no fewer than 1,100 ampoules of lethal synthetic opioid, fentanyl, weighing 6.480 kg were recovered from him.
“The dangerous opioid is 100 times more potent than heroin and is currently responsible for over 70% of overdose deaths, as well as being a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the US.
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“He was later arraigned before Justice Kehinde Ogundare of the Federal High Court Lagos in charge number FHC/L/433C/2024. Delivering his judgment on July 4, 2024, the trial judge convicted Ifeanyi on the two-count charge and sentenced him to 14 years in jail or an option of a N2 million fine.
Also, Christian Anyanwu was arrested on Saturday, November 26, 2022, with 1.4 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed inside custard tins packed among cosmetics and foodstuffs going to Brazil via Doha on a Qatar Airways flight, according to the statement.
The statement said he was subsequently docked before Justice Yellin Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Lagos and later convicted on July 12, 2024. In his ruling, the trial judge sentenced Anyanwu to 16 years in jail, four of which are mandatory, without the option of a fine.
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It adds that “others who bagged mandatory imprisonment in July for drug trafficking include: Moses Yakubu, sentenced to 25 years in prison on July 22 by Justice Rita Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court Abuja; and Oluosun Okikiola, who was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in jail on July 17 by Justice A. A. Okeke of the Federal High Court Abeokuta, Ogun State.
“In the same vein, Justice R.J. Abubakar of the Federal High Court, Makurdi, Benue State, convicted and sentenced Chanchan Terpase to seven years in prison on July 9, while Justice C.O. Obiozor of the Federal High Court, Benin, Edo State, convicted and sentenced Beauty Gani to 30 years in prison or payment of an option of a N8 million fine on July 3, 2024.
Reacting to the development, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), said the sentencing of the convicts will further contribute to the drug supply reduction efforts of the agency.
Marwa commended the officers and men of the various commands involved in the arrest and prosecution of the cases, as well as the judiciary, for speedy adjudication.