NDLEA foils attempt to steal N2.7 billion from Nigerians

ABUJA, Nigeria – Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA have prevented attempt by a syndicate to steal the sum of N2.7 million from the Nigerian economy.

The syndicate, led by 42 year old  Abdulmumini Maikasuwa  intended to pocket N2.7 billion by exchanging the money with counterfeit USD4.7 million which he had  printed for circulation. But the consignment sent from Lagos to Abaji, Abuja was intercepted in the early hours of Friday 18th February 2022.

The seizure followed intelligence received by the FCT Command of NDLEA detailing the movement of the cash and the vehicle conveying it. Meanwhile, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has directed that both the cash and the suspect in custody be transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for further investigation.

In Kwara state, barely three weeks after a nursing mother, Mrs. Rashidat Adebayo, 38, was granted administrative bail following her arrest for dealing in illicit drugs, operatives have again arrested her in Offa with assorted drugs such as Tramadol, Swinol, Diazepam and Pentazocine injection ampules.

Before her latest arrest on Thursday 17th February, the nursing mother had been arrested and granted bail on 24th January 2022 for dealing in similar drugs.

In the same vein, NDLEA officers have arrested two drug dealers: Sani Isa (aka Bilaz) and Bala Yerima in Hong, Adamawa state with 239 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 209kg, just as operatives of the Bauchi state Command have intercepted a truck marked FFF 422 XB coming from Lagos to Maiduguri, at Azare, Bauchi. A total of 164.8kg of cannabis sativa concealed in peak milk cartons was recovered from the truck.

The NDLEA Chief Executive has commended the officers and men of the FCT Command for their vigilance and preventing counterfeit $4.7 million from going into the streets. He charged them and their counterparts in Adamawa, Kwara, Bauchi and others across the country not to rest on their oars.