Rise and rise of drugs biz in Owerri

This was confirmed when few weeks after the revelation, an illicit drug manufacturing factory was discovered in Lagos, a drug cartel that specializes in concealing cocaine in labeled canned food containers, after sealing them in industrial form, was pounced on. Lately too, the much scarce cocaine was discovered to be on sale in major hotels […]

This was confirmed when few weeks after the revelation, an illicit drug manufacturing factory was discovered in Lagos, a drug cartel that specializes in concealing cocaine in labeled canned food containers, after sealing them in industrial form, was pounced on. Lately too, the much scarce cocaine was discovered to be on sale in major hotels and notable streets of Owerri the Imo state capital.

 

In Owerri, most dealers of cannabis otherwise known as Indian hemp now sell cocaine and heroin in pinches. The new discovery has placed Owerri as a major drug consuming society. This disclosure was made by the Imo State Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr. Mshelia Kaku told newsmen in Owerri that cocaine is now commonly sold on the streets promised.

“The Chairman of the agency has ordered me to trace the supply chain of illicit drugs in the state and arrest the drug barons. He is particularly concerned with the gradual spread of cocaine and heroin in the state. He is so worried that type A drugs like cocaine and heroin are gradually finding their way to a place like Owerri. That is why we are calling on the state government, civil organizations and individuals in the state to collaborate with the agency in making Imo state drug free.

“Most of the major cannabis dealers now hawk cocaine and heroin in pinches within the state. This has made drug addicts in the state poly drug users. That is a situation where they abuse more than one drug. We are working very hard to drastically reduce the drug problem. We also have drug counseling and rehabilitation unit that attends to people with drug abuse problem and it has helped many people to live normal lives after being hooked on drugs,” Kaku said.

Weekly Trust gathered from sources close to drug cartels in Owerri that while a wrap of Indian hemp costs N50, a pinch of cocaine wrapped in water proof costs N2,000 while similar quantity of heroin costs N2,500. Heroin and cocaine are commonly found at places where Indian hemp is being sold, major hotels, notable beer parlors, luxury bus parks and higher institutions of learning.

A source that pleaded anonymity told Weekly Trust in Owerri that “it is not the pure cocaine or heroin that they are selling here. The ones you find here are adulterated because of the high cost of pure one. But even at that, they charge a lot. They use powdered milk to adulterate them. Every class of people comes around to buy while some of the big men send their fronts. But in most cases, when you see a young man coming to buy it, it is either he is sent or he may be a kidnapper because of the high cost,” the source said.

But the agency’s head of public affairs, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju said operatives of the agency recently prevented a 39-year-old suspected major drug trafficker from allegedly smuggling out of Nigeria 1.5 kilograms of whitish powder that tested positive to cocaine in milk containers at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos. The suspect, George Mike Adelabu, was apprehended during the outward clearance of passengers on an Emirate flight to India.

The drug was factory-packed in liquid milk containers among other canned food products suggestive of a complex drug trafficking network. The anti-drug agency has launched intense investigation into the seizure, describing it as shocking. Also arrested is a hair stylist, Aminat Samuel Abiodun who deals in jewelleries and a trader Nkpachi Pedro Collins, 41.

Aminat, 44-year-old divorcee with three children was arrested during the outward screening of passengers on an Emirate flight to India at the Lagos airport. Eight hundred grams of powdery substances that tested positive to cocaine and 5.5 kilograms proved positive to ephedrine were recovered.

Another suspect, George who claimed to have been involved in drug trafficking as a result of frustration, said “I am a trader. I sell clothes. I now hawk my wares because I lost my job. I would have been paid 2,500 dollars if I had successfully smuggled the drugs.”

Aminat said she was paid 1,000 dollars, return ticket and a mouth watery promise upon successful delivery of the drug to India. In the case of Nkpachi Pedro Collins who was nabbed on his way from Brazil aboard Qatar Airways flight, he tested positive to drug ingestion and was placed under observation where he excreted 60 wraps of substances that proved to be cocaine weighing 1.185 kilograms.

Collins said, “As I speak, my wife is in the hospital and I do not know how she will cope with my present condition. She had an accident and lost her five months old pregnancy. No help was coming my way and I was desperate to save the life of my wife and mother of my six year old son. I wish I succeeded because my target is to save my wife’s live.”

Chairman and Chief executive of the agency, Ahmadu Giade who confirmed the arrests said that the mode of concealment is a reflection of the desperation and sophistication of drug trafficking syndicates, adding, “This is shocking. Drug trafficking cartels will continue to devise new tricks of shipping their drugs to preferred markets where they believe they will have more financial value. Who would have imagined that the content of the tins are not milk? The agency has equally risen to the challenge by conducting meticulous search as well as adopting other techniques to counter the illicit activities of drug barons.”

Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju said the type of judgement being handed to some drug traffickers does not help the war on drugs in the country. He cited the example of a cocaine trafficker, Mgbakogu Nnaemeka, 34 years old who on Monday, July 11, 2011, regained his freedom following a 12 months sentence passed on him by Justice B.I. Molokwe of the Federal High Court Ikoyi Lagos.

The judge in her ruling stated that the convict was well behaved and that his religious life while in detention reflected a high sense of remorse. She therefore sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment from date of arrest which automatically made the second time cocaine convict regain freedom.

Worried by the sad development, the agency called for stiffer penalty for drug trafficking to serve as deterrent to others. The drug war boss added, “This is a second time offender that practically regained freedom because when you calculate twelve months from the date of arrest, the convict had completed his term already.”

He described the judgment as a sad one because the court was notified of the accused person’s first conviction record. He said it is an invitation to continue the criminal trade because the accused was first sentenced to six months imprisonment at the first instance.

The convict, Mgbakogu Nnaemeka, 34years old was arrested June 3, 2010 at about 2210 hours at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos during the outward clearance of passengers on Iberia Airline flight to Spain. He tested positive to drug ingestion and was placed under observation.

While under observation, the convict, like his afore mentioned counterpart excreted 46 wraps of substances that tested positive to cocaine weighing 950 grams. He was then charged before Justice B.I. Molokwe for unlawful exportation of cocaine.

The convict was first arrested by anti-narcotic officers on July 10, 2007 for unlawfully attempting to export 1.161 kilograms of cocaine at the Lagos Airport. He was nabbed then during the outward clearance of passengers on KLM flight to Amsterdam but was sentenced to six months imprisonment by Justice A.R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court Ikoyi.

Mitchell said the agency believed the 2-times convict is unrepentant as he had given conflicting information about himself. He said the convict told the agency in his statement when he was apprehended in 2007, that he was an Igbo from Anambra State. But in his recent statement to the agency, he was said to have claimed being of Delta Igbo extraction from Okwe, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State.