The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has destroyed 25,807.192kg of illicit drugs in Imo.

The illicit drugs were, for the first time ever, destroyed in Owerri on Saturday.

Speaking during the exercise, the agency’s chairman, Maj.-Gen. Mohammed Buba-Marwa, said that they consisted of 2,319 litres of codeine-based cough syrup and 24,945.302kg of cannabis sativa.

Other items destroyed were 29.65kg of methamphetamine, 3.169kg of cocaine, 1.378kg of heroin and 827.702kg of other psychotropic substances.

Mr Buba-Marwa, represented by the agency’s Director of Operations and General Investigation, Ahmed Ningi, described the event as “a statement of accountability to the Nigerian public and a way of assuring the citizens that drugs seized by the Agency never find their way back to the streets through any back door.”

“They are not recycled, not resold, not lost in transit, they are destroyed openly, irreversibly and in full view of the public we serve,” he said.

He said that the agency would continue to pursue traffickers wherever they hide, dismantle cartels that profit from addiction and disrupt every link in the supply chain.

“We specifically warn those who profit from the misery of others through illicit drug trafficking to desist forthwith.

“We will find you, arrest you, prosecute you and destroy your ill-gotten exhibits in the full glare of the public just as we are doing here today,” he said.

Speaking, the Imo NDLEA Commander, Chinonye Nnyigide, said that the items were recovered by vibrant and pragmatic officers and men of the command.

He added that the officers carried out strategic intelligence-driven operations, raids, arrests and sustained enforcement actions with the assistance of sister agencies.

“These substances have passed through the necessary legal and administrative processes in accordance with established procedures and applicable laws,” he said.

Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo, represented by his deputy, Chinyere Ekomaru, said that the public destruction of the illicit drugs was an eloquent testimony of the government’s commitment to protect lives in society.

Also, the Special Adviser to the governor on Narcotics and Illicit Drugs Monitoring, Ezechukwu Obonna, commended officers and men of the NDLEA for their relentless efforts to tackle the cancer of drug abuse.

Mr Obonna said that the event was “a clear testimony that the state has zero tolerance for drug trafficking and drug abuse.”

“We should all rise to fight this problem and my office remains committed to a drug-free society,” he said. 

(NAN)