By Stehen Ubanna
Drug traffickers operating between the North American country of the United States of America, USA, Asian country of India and Nigerian, are in for ore troubles.
This is because the United States Coast Guard, USCG, and the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA, under the close watch of Jide Kosoko, a Nollywood activist and other international Navies had toughen up security at their respective countries seaports and international waters to clip the wings of the narcotics traffickers.
The USCG, agency was said to have beamed its searchlight, particular, on the speedboats operating around the Caribbean sea just as the NDLEA, had beamed its beamed its search light on the 20ft and 40 ft, Containers offloaded at the premier port of Apapa, Tincan Island, ports and the Onne port among other seaports across the country.
The recent USCG, seizure of cocaine at the port of Florida in USA, speaks volume. The USCG, , had revealed that that it had offloaded more than 10,584Kg of cocaine worth over $63 million at the port of Florida and sank a speedboat suspected of smuggling the drugs in the Caribbean sea.
Going by reports making the rounds, the offloaded cocaine in the port of Florida by US Coast Guard was said to be part of the agency’s efforts to rid the country of drug traffickers. The operations that was aid to have been conducted on Thursday, June 6, 2024, off Purto Cabello, Venezuela, by Royal Netherlands Navy which had a US, Coast Guard enforcement detachment and helicopter interdiction tactical squadron on board, may have sent a message to the drug traffickers that it is n longer going to be business as usual using the American ports as to smuggle drugs to other parts of the world, particular, Nigeria, the most populous country in the African continent.
An eye witness account confirmed that the cocaine seizures came two days after the Authorities had said that the same Dutch Naval ship which had carried out the operation alongside the USCG, vessel in the Caribbean sea , had identified an ocean going vessel suspected of smuggling the narcotics in the international waters.
The suspected speed boat carrying the narcotics was said to have failed to stop on the early morning of Tuesday, June 4, 2024, for routine checks but headed straight toward the Dutch patrol boat, thus giving the Dutch Naval personnel and USCG, on board the patrol boat room to fire weapons at the speedboat which was said to have caught fire in self-defense.
Officials of the USCG, had said that the multi-million dollar cocaine seizures and shoot in the Caribbean sea had come about a week after a separate Coast Guard Crew had offloaded $468 million worth of cocaine in San Diego, believed to be a fallout of eight separate operation off the Coasts of Mexico and central and South America.
Ever since the USCG, intensified its efforts to deal decisively with the drug barons operating around the Caribbean sea to forestall them from entering the US, market, the international drug traffickers were said to have resorted to using different kinds of speedboats to move their narcotics and evade arrests.
Lst May, the Italian Police were said to have announced the seizure of a remote – controlled submarine likely intended to be used to transport drugs as part of an international drug trafficking network. Also, in the same month of May, 2024, the French Navy was said to have intercepted and seized 2.4 tons of cocaine from a Venezuela fishing boat about 1,500 Kilometers north east of the Caribbeans Island of Matinique.
There are reports as well of a massive cocaine shipment seizure in the Caribean Sea off Colombia , a country of drug barons , after military ships and planes chased down a speedboat holding down four tons of the dangerous drug. The British warship and an American patrol aircraft were said to have also chased down a speedboat as its Crew tried to flee and dump its cargo of drugs into the water near the US. Virgin Islands. The USCG and the British Sailors were said to have recovered about 13,230Kg of cocaine from the area.
Enogh of the USCG, and other intenational Navies battles against drug traffickers. We turn to the NDLEA. Only recently, Kosoko, led NDLEA, had intercepted and seized a shipment of 175,000 bottles of opoid imported from Indian , barely a week after seizing a shipment of 175 bottles of Codeine –based syrup at the Onne seaport, in Rivers state.
Femi Babafemi, DDLEA, spokesperson, had said that the agency had said that the two different drug seizures followed earlier intelligence gathering which was said to have encouraged the agency operatives at the Onne port to request that the shipment be stepped down for 100% examination .
The NDLEA , spokesperson, may have shocked Nigerians , when he revealed that the latest 85 cartons of Codeine syrup containing 175,000 bottles , weighing 26,250 Kg , which was made on Friday, June 7, 2024, during a joint examination by the agency operatives , Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, and other security agencies personnel at he port and the Department of State Security, DSS, has sent a signal to the drug traffickers based in the US, and India, that Nigerian ports are no longer safe routes to transport drugs to the West and Central African sub-regional markets.
Given an insider information, Babafemi, the NDLEA, Image maker had said that the 40ft. Container , marked HASU 478890, was shipped from India to the Onne port in Rivers state and was to be transferred to C bonded terminal in Enugu, Enugu , state but luck ran out of the importer with the agent who are on the run.
The NDLEA, operatives stationed at the Murtala Mohammed International airport , were said to have also intercepted and impounded 600 ampoules of pentazocine injection , promethazine and other opioids consignments brought into the country by a Courier firm in Lagos, the nation’s Commercial nerve center.
The NDLEA operatives may have outsmarted the Federal Operations Unit, FOU, zone B, Kaduna, Command Operatives, Patrol team officers , along Kaglo-Birnin Kebbi road in Kebbi state on Saturday, June 8, 2024, to arrest a 32 year –old Nigerien , Hassan Mummuni, with 4,000 pills of diazepam and 1.250Kg of cannabis sativa, grown and smuggled into the country from Ghana. The cannabis sativa, was said to have been concealed I four pesticide tanks.
The NDLEA operatives who may have been emboldened the agency new Chairman, directive to go all out and make drug seizures in all nooks and crannies of the country without Compromise were said to have arrested one Ibrahim Abubakar, popular, Alhaji, at Herwagana, in Gombe state, with 6,740 pills of tramadol drug and 20,000 tablets of diazepam, which if not intercepted by the agency operatives would have fallen into the waiting hands of the Bandits Group fighters in the north western states of Zamfara, closet state to GAombe. Over 1,098 bottles of Codeine syrup were said to have been recovered also from one Oyekachi Thangod Iwula, 42, , following his arrest in a Commercial b bus at Aloma junction , Otukpa, Ogbadibo, Local Government Area of Benue state.
Many believe that the NDLEA operatives have gone all out to make drug seizures in the recent months because the agency new helmsman, on assumption of duties last May , had made it clear that ‘’enough is enough of this general sickness of continuous abuse of drugs’’. He was said to have proceeded to list a range of substances that had been by the Nigerian Government which include Karaole, cafenol, manpower and bitters among others.
