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Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) busted a major drug cartel with operations in Imo and Rivers States in mid-July.
Authorities arrested the cartel’s leader and one of his associates for allegedly distributing large amounts of methamphetamine throughout south and southeastern Nigeria. Confiscated from the cartel leader’s Imo State mansion were about 420 grams of methamphetamine and chemicals used to make the drug.
One week earlier, Nigerian authorities arrested a couple accused of packaging, distributing and trafficking $1.3 million worth of cocaine in and outside Nigeria.
These operations are part of Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to curb escalating drug manufacturing and trafficking. The country has long been considered a narcotics transit hub, but has in recent years become a significant producer, consumer and distributor of drugs, according to the United Nations.
In the first quarter of 2024, Nigerian authorities arrested more than 80 suspects and seized more than 3,000 kilograms of assorted drugs, while 50 offenders were convicted on drug charges, according to the U.N.
The NDLEA in mid-July also foiled international drug trafficking efforts when it seized large quantities of cocaine, opioids, tramadol, pentazocine injections, morphine sulfate and ketamine injections hidden in the soles of shoes.
The NDLEA maintains thatdrug trafficking poses a greater threat than banditry and insurgency locally and worldwide. According to agency statistics, more than 14 million Nigerians use illegal drugs, mostly cannabis.
In June, the NDLEA’s chairman, retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, said the abuse and trafficking of drugs drives other crimes and fuels insecurity.
Marwa noted that for the past three years southeast Nigeria has been trapped in a “vortex of violence.”
“The factors responsible for the cycle of violence being perpetrated by young people are many and varied but also do not preclude drug abuse, especially methamphetamine, popularly known as Mmkpuru Mmiri,” Marwa told Nigeria’s Punch newspaper.
“I have heard the arguments time and again, that some young people get creative or inspiration when they smoke cannabis. That is balderdash,” Marwa added. “Did they also tell you that many also run mad or lose their sense of reasoning after smoking cannabis?”
The NDLEA in 2021 launched the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative to combat drug use and trafficking among youths. WADA helps promote an anti-drug environment that revolves around early detection and intervention with young people.
WADA has spearheaded campaigns to dissuade youths and children from using illicit substances and employed various awareness platforms to engage the public and promote collaboration against the drug scourge.
Since 2021, the NDLEA has conducted more than 6,400 outreach programs aimed at students, along with nearly 1,000 programs for out-of-school youths, to raise awareness about the dangers of drug use, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
Nigeria’s Senate in May proposed making the death penalty the new maximum sentence for drug trafficking through a law amendment, Reuters reported. The amendment, not yet a law, would replace life imprisonment as the harshest penalty for the offense.
Critics of the bill are concerned about the possibility of wrongly sentencing and executing an innocent person.
Ibrahim Abdullahi, founder of Muslim Media Watch Group, supports the bill but said laws also should address the role of corruption related to drug trafficking.
“More stringent laws should be made to fight corruption in Nigeria so that officers who are guilty of taking bribes to conceal crimes or not to prosecute diligently will also be dealt with seriously,” Abdullahi told Voice of America.
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