Operatives of the Nationwide Drug Regulation Enforcement Company have arrested a standard eminent priest of the Igunuko Shrine, Bariu Aliu, within the Alpha Seashore segment of Ajah, Lekki, following a three-month manhunt.
Bariu, sometimes called “Malo,” was once apprehended nearest 2,760 kilograms of skunk had been recovered from his shrine on October 25, 2024.
A commentary absolved on Sunday by means of the company’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, not hidden that future two of Bariu’s accomplices have been arrested, charged, and convicted terminating yr, the eminent priest was once recognized because the chief of the drug syndicate working from the shrine.
Babafemi said, “In Lagos, the standard eminent priest of the Igunuko shrine at Alpha Seashore, Ajah Lekki, the place 2,760 kg of skunk was once recovered on October 25, 2024, Bariu Aliu (alias Malo), has been arrested by means of NDLEA operatives nearest a three-month manhunt.
“Though two of his accomplices were arrested at the shrine last year and subsequently charged and convicted in court, Bariu was identified as the syndicate leader.”
He additionally disclosed that operatives intercepted a 40-foot trailer loaded with 2,217.6 kilograms of skunk, a pressure of hashish, throughout an intelligence-led operation within the Kagini segment of Kubwa, Abuja.
Babafemi stated, “A 40-foot trailer loaded with skunk, weighing 2,217.6 kilograms, was once intercepted by means of NDLEA operatives future being dispensed into six automobiles at an lonely gasoline station in Kagini, Kubwa, Abuja, for onward distribution to a couple northern states.
“The intelligence-led operation, which took playground at 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, January 11, 2025, ended in the seizure of the immense illicit consignment, the trailer, six automobiles—comprising a Toyota Van, Toyota Camry, Toyota Sienna, a JAC 4-wheel-drive Hilux, a Toyota Corolla, and a Vento Passat—and the arrest of a suspect, 42-year-old Isaac Monday Desmond.
“The consignment was loaded onto the trailer at Uzebba in the Owan Local Council Area of Edo State.”
In every other raid within the FCT, NDLEA officials arrested two suspects, Anthony Nnamdi, 42, and Abba Ali, 27, in Nyanya, the place they recovered 1.398 kilograms of cocaine and a precursor substance old in making ready fracture cocaine.
Babafemi added that 20 wraps of cocaine, weighing 330 grams, had been intercepted from a shipment cargo sure for Australia at a logistics company in Lagos. The cocaine was once hazy in face cream packing containers.
Moreover, he not hidden that 338,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup, valued at over ₦1.19 billion, had been seized from two packing containers flagged by means of the company. The illicit consignments had been found out throughout joint examinations by means of NDLEA operatives, Customs, and alternative safety companies on January 9 and 10, 2025, on the Port Harcourt Ports Complicated in Onne, Rivers Situation.
In Kano, a suspect, 23-year-old Habibu Ya’u, was once arrested throughout a raid at Gadar Tamburawa, Zaria Street, on January 9. NDLEA officials recovered 45 blocks of hashish, weighing 24.2 kilograms, and 40,800 capsules of opioids, together with tramadol.