By Ibironke Ariyo
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) seized 13, 125 kilogrammes of drug substances and arrested 793 suspects in 2022.
The NDLEA Commander in the FCT, Mr Kabir Tsakuwa, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at a pre-event press briefing on grassroots sensitisation and awareness campaign on dangers of illicit drugs.
Tsakuwa said that the year 2022 was a fruitful year for the command, adding that records of arrests , seizures and convictions were impressive.
He said that the agency’s counselling and rehabilitation programmes also yielded positive results in the territory.
According to him, a total of 793 suspects comprising of 768 males and 29 females were arrested.
“13, 125 kilogrammes of different drug substances were seized. The breakdown of the seized drugs are12,660.3 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa.
“Others includes 21.957 kilogrammes of cocaine, 0.008 kilogrammes of Heroine and 443.693 kilogrammes of different psychotropic substances, “he said.
The NDLEA boss said that the command also had 167 convictions comprised of 161 males and six females.
Tsakuwa said that 78 persons comprising of 74 males and four females with drug use problems were successfully counselled and rehabilitated within the same period.
He added that efforts were on towards better achievements in drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction in the year 2023.
Tsakuwa commended all stakeholders including other security agencies for their assistance in intelligence sharing, joint operations and prevention of drug abuse and trafficking in the society.
He also commended the traditional rulers in FCT saying that their past efforts were helpful and the agency remained appreciative.
“We must always remind ourselves that the drugs problem exists in every community and we need to address it at all levels.
“We therefore, implore you to sustain this robust engagement with a view of ridding our society of substance abuse and its attendant consequences, “he said.
(NAN)
