CITIZENS COMPASS- SOLEBO area of Ikorodu, Lagos State, was extremely orderly, on Monday, as operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, uncovered a cocaine warehouse in the estate
and arrested four drug barons including a Jamaican and the warehouse manager.
Eyewitnesses’ account, said the operatives stormed Olokunola Crescent, Solebo estate in the morning, barricaded a building where about 1.8tons (1,855 kilograms) of the illicit drug worth over $278, 250,000, equivalent to about N194, 775,000,000 were stored and seized all the drugs.
Some of the residents became jittery at the operation saying it caught them unawares.
A resident, Mr Adebare Ogundipe applauded the operation saying it will restore sanity to the area as drug peddlers have been operating freely.
It was learnt that the four drug barons including a Jamaican and the warehouse manager were arrested in a well coordinated and intelligence led operation that lasted two days across different locations in Lagos state.
Confirming the operation, Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA, gave the names of the suspected kingpins of the cocaine cartel as: Messrs Soji Jibril, 69, an indigene of Ibadan, Oyo state; Emmanuel Chukwu, 65, who hails from Ekwulobia, Anambra state; Wasiu Akinade, 53, from Ibadan, Oyo state; Sunday Oguntelure, 53, from Okitipupa, Ondo state and Kelvin Smith, 42, a native of Kingston, Jamaica.
He said, “They are all members of an international drug syndicate that the Agency has been trailing since 2018.
Located at 6 Olokunola Crescent, Solebo estate, Ikorodu, the warehouse was raided on Sunday 18th September, 2022, while the barons were picked from hotels and their hideouts in different parts of Lagos between Sunday night and Monday 19th September,”
Giving the details about the operation, Babafemi said, “Preliminary investigation reveals the class A drugs were warehoused in the residential estate from where the cartel was trying to sell them to buyers in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world.
“They were stored in 10 travel bags and 13 drums.”
While commending all the officers and men of the Agency involved in the extensive investigation including those of the American Drug Enforcement Administration, (US-DEA), Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) said the bust is a historical blow to the drug cartels and a strong warning that they’ll all go down if they fail to realise that the game has changed.
