The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two elderly men, aged 84 and 75, for allegedly selling illicit drugs to teenage secondary school students in Umuahia, Abia State, as part of a nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking.
The agency also intercepted dangerous drug consignments from China, uncovered narcotics concealed in ladies’ handbags bound for export, and arrested several suspects, including a wanted couple in Ekiti State and a 75-year-old grandmother during operations in Oyo State.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the two grandfathers—identified as Godfrey Orji, 84, and Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, 75—were arrested in separate operations in Umuahia.
Obiora was apprehended on Friday following intelligence reports linking him to the sale of illicit substances to students and other users from his patent medicine store located at 4 Club Road, Umuahia. A search of the premises led to the recovery of 4.64 kilograms of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.
In a separate incident, Orji, a pensioner, was caught by security personnel at Saint Silas Secondary School, Old Umuahia, while allegedly supplying illicit drugs to two students.
The school guards handed the suspect and the students over to the police, who subsequently transferred the matter to NDLEA for further investigation.
One of the teenagers, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School 2 student, reportedly told investigators that the suspect had been supplying him with drugs, which he consumed and also sold to fellow students.
While the two elderly suspects are expected to face prosecution, the affected students have been placed on counselling and rehabilitation.
Beyond the Abia arrests, NDLEA operatives recorded major seizures across the country. The agency intercepted 9.5 kilograms of ADB Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous new psychoactive substance, at a courier company in Lagos. The shipment, which originated from China, was concealed in a carton.
In another operation, officers discovered 300 grams of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, hidden inside ladies’ handbags intended for shipment to Dubai.
The anti-narcotics agency also arrested a wanted couple in Ekiti linked to drug trafficking activities, while a raid in Oyo State led to the arrest of a 75-year-old grandmother and other suspects.
