Operatives of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Ondo have arrested a 35-year-old, Ayodele Osuya, with about 228 Kilogrammes of Indian Hemp otherwise known as Cannabis Sativa.
The state Commandant of the NDLEA, Mr Kayode Raji, who disclosed this while briefing newsmen at the command’s headquarters in Akure said his men had been on trail of the suspect for a long time.
The NDLEA boss explained that the suspect was arrested with 309 pieces of the Indian hemp weighing 228kg sealed in the booth of a Toyota Camry car.
According to him, the suspect arrested on Wednesday, March 29, said it was not easy trailing the suspect, saying detectives from the command had been on the trail of the suspect for months.
“We have been on his trail for a very long time and at a time, we also suspected that he was very suspicious and almost about to get wind he was being trailed, so we relaxed the manhunt.
“We employed characters so that our identity will be concealed. But at the end of the day, on March 29, he was nabbed at a place called Quarter guard in Akure, Ondo.
“A compressed cannabis, carefully stacked in the booth of the car, about 309 pieces of compressed cannabis, of about 228kg ,” he said.
The NDLEA boss who expressed the determination of the command to rid the state of criminals dealing and cultivating cannabis in the state, saying the command is ready to combat merchant of death in the state.
The commandant further said, “it is either you get out of the state or you get out of the business.”
The suspect, Osuya, while speaking with newsmen confessed that he ventured into the business to fend for his family, after he was kidnapped and had to sell his belongings to secure his freedom from the kidnappers’ den.
“I’m only trying to help my family because of the issue I had earlier. I have nobody to help me. So, that is why I have to get myself involved in this business, to cater for my family.
”I just started this year, because last year, Fulani herdsmen kidnapped me. I sold all I had; my building, my vehicle. Then, I have nobody that could help me. So, I had to sell what I have to free myself,” he said.
He, however, said he was not the owner of the vehicle, claiming that he only borrowed it to go to a burial ceremony before he could use it for a trip to get money to feed his children.
