Troops from the 192 Battalion, 81 Division, Nigerian Army, have intercepted a suspected transnational drug syndicate along the Balogun border in Ogun State.
According to the Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, the troops discovered 296 wraps of illicit substances, believed to be Cannabis Sativa, concealed in a Sienna 2001 Model Space bus with registration number Lagos APP 129 EF.
The suspects, Adigun Olatunji, 54, and Michael Atanda, 18, both residents of Ilara Imeko in Afun Local Government Area of Ogun State but living in Benin Republic, were taken into custody after an attempted bribery of troops with N12 million.
Army investigation revealed that the illicit substance had been transported from the Benin Republic through Ilara border communities en route to Ifo, Ogun State.
According to Mr Nwachukwu, the traffickers, whose stock-in-trade is moving drugs from one country to another, had spent five months concealing the marijuana for delivery to their clients.
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Some of the recovered items include a Benin Republic National ID Card, a Nigerian National ID Card, two small Itel mobile phones, a Benin Republic driver’s license, a Benin Republic International Passport, six Benin Republic SIM packs, two Benin Republic SIM cards, a Nigerian driver’s license, and the sum of N52,700.
The suspects and seized items, Mr Nwachukwu said, are to be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for prosecution.
In a similar incident in July last year, Nigerian Army troops had arrested a Beninese, Matthew Edegbe, and a Nigerian, Joshua Dansu, while attempting to smuggle a truck loaded with 397 wraps of suspected marijuana into the country in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State.
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