By Oluwatosin Maliki
In a recent report, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency command in Cross River State, announced that a total of 2.05 tons of hard drugs were seized from drug peddlers over the past 12 months, starting from January to December.
Rachel Umebuali, the State commander, revealed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Calabar on Monday.
Umebuali who is also the Commander of Narcotics (CN), further disclosed that 223 suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure made in the year under review.
During the interview, she said that the suspects included 22 females and 201 males, listing the seized hard drugs as cannabis, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and psychotropics.
Speaking on, she stated that 1.64 tonnes of cannabis were seized, while cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and psychoactive substances account for 3.5 grams, 4.3 grams, 81.9 grams and 410.24kg respectively.
Umebuali added that several of the suspects were charged to court. However, the specific figures were not given.
Furthermore, she explained that the command successfully secured the conviction of some of the suspects, while some of the arrested suspects were discharged and acquitted by the courts.
The anti-narcotic commander lamented over the rising cases of drug abuse among the youths, while revealing that vehicles and motorbikes were used by peddlers to carry out their operation.
Meanwhile, Umebuali noted that the command achieved a lot in the outgoing year, despite all the challenges it faced.
She expressed optimism for next year saying, “asides from the seizures and arrests made in the outgoing year, we hope to improve on this performance in the coming year.
“Our operations are hampered primarily by inadequate operational vehicles, inaccessible and bad roads, especially during rainy season, cultism and communal crisis,” she added.