The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said its operatives in Kaduna seized 1,045.93kgs of various illicit substances and arrested 420 suspects in the third quarter of the year.

NDLEA commander in the state, Samaila Danmalam, disclosed this on Thursday in Kaduna.

Mr Danmalam said, “The command had, within the period under review, arrested a total of 420 suspects, comprising 404 males and 16 females. The  figure represents both drug dealers, drug users and traffickers.”

He said, “The illicit substances included cocaine, cannabis sativa, Rohypnol, tramadol, methamphetamine, and other psychotropic substances grossly weighing 1,045.93kg.

“The command seized a total of 1,393 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and equally seized four locally made arms in the course of its numerous operations in the period being reported.

”The command equally secured the conviction of 30 drug offenders and charged a total of 54 suspects, while investigations on others are ongoing.”

Mr Danmalam said in its non-kinetic approach to combating the drug menace through drug demand reduction activities, the command carried out various sensitization and awareness programmes.

“It counselled 50 drug users while it has rehabilitated 50 drug dependent persons, who successfully recovered and were reintegrated into the mainstream society,“ Mr Danmalam said.

He said the command would continue to combat illicit drug trafficking even as he appealed for timely and useful information for quick response and proactive measures.

(NAN)