By IBIRONKE ARIYO

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 93-year-old man and a 69-year-old medical doctor over drug-related offences.

The agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja.

Babafemi said the suspects topped a list of arrests as operatives intensified crackdowns on drug cartels and collaborators through intelligence-led operations nationwide.

“In one operation, the nonagenarian was arrested at his home in Osisioma, Abia, on April 7. A search recovered 7.7 kilogrammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis.

“The suspect said he previously worked as a truck pusher before learning painting and tiling, and entered the drug trade over a year ago.

“He also claimed he had smoked skunk since 1959 before turning it into a business,” he said.

Babafemi said efforts to expose an international syndicate led to the arrest of an Ivorian at Kano airport with 82 wraps of cocaine.

He said the cocaine weighed 1.49 kilogrammes and was discovered during outward clearance for an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan via Addis Ababa.

“The suspect arrived Lagos from Milan on Jan. 17 and shuttled between Lagos and Enugu for three weeks.

“He later travelled to Kano, stayed a week, and ingested the cocaine in his hotel room. He was to be paid €5,000 upon delivering the drugs in Milan,” he said.

Babafemi said investigations uncovered a hidden accomplice directing the operation.

“The accomplice was identified as a medical doctor and traced to his residence in Magboro, Ogun.

“The suspect was arrested on March 27 and flown to Kano on April 7.

“Recovered items include 63 grammes of promazepam and seven ampoules of promethazine injection,” he said.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives arrested three suspects with 34 kilogrammes of skunk at Sango Ota, Ogun, on April 7.

Babafemi added that 56.2 kilogrammes of the substance was recovered from a female suspect in Owerri, Imo, on April 11.

NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended officers for the arrests and seizures recorded across commands in the past week.

He urged personnel to sustain a balance between drug supply reduction and demand reduction efforts nationwide. (NAN)

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