Between NDLEA and the drug war

The seizure of 48,000 tablets of 225mg tramadol and arrest of three transborder traffickers heading to Cameroon through Bagira border town in Adamawa State on January 28, 2022, by the operatives of the NDLEA has, again, brought to the fore the problem of drug abuse.

Who would have thought that these quantities of a banned substance would be in possession of three men? If the NDLEA operatives had gone to sleep, that would have been another successful drug-heist for these men.

No doubt, there have been improvements in the operations of the agency recently and results like the seizures of 3.4 million kg of illicit drugs, arrest of 12,306 drug dealing suspects and the number of cases in courts that have resulted in the conviction of 1,400 offenders are a testament.

However, even with the activeness of the agency, one wonders what gives some people the audacity to continue in drug trafficking. Every week, hundreds of kilograms of illicit psychotropic substances are discovered and seized across the nation and a chunk of these being tramadol.

This means that NDLEA needs to do more. However, recognition should go to the agency’s operatives who make sacrifices and go after the dealers. It will only take time for the long arm of the law to catch up with the dealers.

While the NDLEA operates do their jobs, it is the duty of everyone to help stamp out this menace.  Parents and teachers must sit up and do their job by discouraging their children, wards and students from engaging in drug abuse and trafficking.

Francis Okogun,

Edo state