The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has busted a snake-guarded shrine used for the storage of illicit drugs in the Egor community near Benin, Edo.

NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said operatives raided the shrine after detecting a specially constructed large hole storage in a wall covered with wallpapers and fetish objects.

He said different quantities of illicit substances such as methamphetamine, Loud, Colorado and Arizona, and all strong strains of cannabis were seen.

Mr Babafemi disclosed that the weight of 8.743 kilogramme, was pulled out from the deep hole dug in the wall of the shrine within the building.

“At least two ladies, Sonia Ezumezu and Risikatu Tijani, were arrested during the intelligence-led operation on Tuesday, June 18.

“This was after the big black snake guarding the shrine was demobilised,” he said.

Also, Mr Babafemi said two suspects, Obi Ferguson,45, and Ernest Abanum, 46, were arrested on Saturday, June 22, for alleged drug possession.

Mr Babafemi said NDLEA operatives raided the Usen forest in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo, where 209kg of cannabis and a motorcycle were recovered.

Meanwhile, NDLEA officers in Lagos State have intercepted a carefully packaged consignment of 8.2 kilogrammes of methamphetamine at a motor park in Mazamaza, Ojo area of the state.

Mr Babafemi said the highly addictive illicit substance, also called ice or crystal meth, was packed in an imported Dunkin’ turtle love chocolate wrap.

“It was concealed in the casing of three loud speakers.

“A 39-year-old suspect, who was sending the consignment to Owerri, Imo, was promptly arrested on Wednesday, June 19, at the park,” he said.

In a related development, NDLEA operatives in Abuja on June 18 intercepted a white Nissan Frontier pickup vehicle with amber lights and a fake registration number of a security agency at Kiyi village in the Kuje area of the FCT.

Mr Babafemi said the vehicle was loaded with 454 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 340.8kg procured at Uzeba, Edo.

“A 76-year-old grandfather, linked to the consignment, was arrested.

“He claimed to have been in the illicit drug business for 10 years,“ he said.

(NAN)