Nigeria: NDLEA Busts Drug Shipment, Seizes 1,633kg Skunk in Ondo

What the report says

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said its operatives intercepted a truck carrying 1,633 kilograms of skunk in Ondo State, according to a brief reported by Daily Trust and distributed by AllAfrica. The agency said the drugs were hidden in bags of rice shafts and were found during a patrol along the Akure-Ilesha Expressway.

NDLEA said two suspects, identified as Buba Jamilu, 40, and Sanusi Ibrahim, 30, were arrested in connection with the shipment. The agency’s media and advocacy director, Femi Babafemi, said the truck was searched after the patrol team stopped it and uncovered the concealed cannabis consignment.

The report also said officers recovered another 147 kilograms of skunk from Ita Ogbolu forest in Akure North Local Government Area during a separate raid on Monday, August 3. In a related case, NDLEA said it arrested a 30-year-old Italy-based businessman, Joseph Cyril, at Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu for allegedly ingesting cocaine wraps before a flight.

Taken together, the cases show the agency continuing enforcement against drug trafficking routes in southwestern and southeastern Nigeria. The Ondo seizure is significant because it involved a large concealed load moved by road, while the airport arrest points to the use of passenger travel in cross-border smuggling, according to the published report.