The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, yesterday, destroyed seized illicit drugs worth over N1 billion in Delta State.
The drugs weighing 5,723.310kg, were destroyed through public burning at Ogwashi-Uku in Aniocha South Local Government Area of the state.
Delta State Commander of NDLEA, John Tunde, listed the destroyed drugs as 5.614 tonnes of Cannabis sativa, 416.77 grammes of cocaine, 105.12 grammes of methamphetamine, 98.2 grammes of heroin, 20.264 grammes of tramadol, 1.867kg of swinol/rophynol, 8.355kg of diazepam and 1.2kg of pentazocine.
The burning followed an order of the Federal High Court, Asaba and Warri divisions, mandating the agency to publicly destroy illicit drugs exhibit in respect of cases that have been concluded from 2018 to 2022.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Major Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), represented by the commander in charge of Zone M, Fidelis Kokodia, said the public destruction of the drugs was dedicated to the late Ivan Omhonria, the two-year-old minor who was killed by a stray bullet last Thursday in the Okpanam area of Delta State where operatives of NDLEA were chasing drug barons.
“I wish to say that the public destruction of seized drugs in Delta State is dedicated to the minor who paid the supreme price with his life in the struggle towards making Delta State safe and secure through drug control activities.
“We expressed distaste and displeasure over the tragic incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the hero of the drug war,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tunde regretted that Delta ranked first in drug abuse and illicit trafficking in the entire South-South, according to the 2018 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) brief survey report.
“It is also worrisome to note that the largest as most sophisticated clandestine laboratory for the production of methamphetamine was discovered in Asaba, Delta State. This drug is very dangerous, addictive and lethal,” Tunde said.
He appealed to the state government to assist the command in the area of logistics to enable it to carry out its mandate more constructively.
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