By Michael Olugbode
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said it has uncovered a stash of cocaine and heroin in the palace of a traditional ruler in Anambra State.
In a statement issued yesterday by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, the agency said its operatives at the Anambra State command recovered 58.5 grammes of cocaine and 13.9 grammes of heroin.
However, the statement did not mention the name of the traditional ruler.
But it said security personnel at the palace are helping to trace the owner of the consignment.
“In a related development, operatives of the Anambra State Command of the Agency have recovered 58.5 grammes of cocaine and 13.9 grammes of heroine concealed in the palace of a prominent traditional ruler in the state,” the statement said.
The statement quoted the Anambra State Commander of NDLEA, Mr. Muhammadu Misbahu Idris, as saying that: “Investigations are ongoing to unravel how the illicit drugs were hidden in the palace.
He added that the palace security guards are helping in tracing the dealer behind the consignment.
Meanwhile, Babafemi said operatives of the agency also nabbed Hassan Taiwo, “a notorious trafficker”, with three parcels of cocaine concealed in a false bottom of his luggage at the Lagos airport.
Taiwo was said to have been arrested at the weekend by operatives attached to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
The alleged trafficker had arrived in the country from Addis Abba, Ethiopia, on Friday.
The agency said it discovered that the suspect had been engaging in the “criminal trade through some Middle East countries”.
“A notorious drug trafficker, Hassan Bishi Taiwo has been arrested by operatives of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, with three parcels of cocaine concealed in a false bottom created in his suitcase,” the statement said.
“Preliminary investigations reveal that Hassan who was intercepted at the E-Arrival hall of the MMIA at the weekend upon arrival on board Ethiopian airlines at 1:30pm Friday has been plying the illicit trade through the middle east routes for some time.”
