A 70-year-old grandfather has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with 57.2kg of cannabis in Nasarawa State.

Also arrested were two suspects with 426kg of cannabis in Ekiti State, NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

This is as the anti-narcotics agency seized codeine-based syrup and Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain worth over N2.1 billion at the Port Harcourt seaports and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

“Large consignments of codeine-based syrup and Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis worth over N2.1bn in street value have been intercepted at the Port Harcourt seaports, Onne and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA,” the statement read.

“At the Lagos airport, NDLEA officers with the cooperation of other security agencies on Friday 31st May 2024 intercepted a large consignment of Loud, packed in eight suitcases, containing 320 parcels with a total weight of 164.50kg of the strong psychoactive substance coming from Canada on a KLM flight via Amsterdam, Netherlands.

“The consignment estimated to be worth N960m which was brought in by a passenger, Ughenu Nnaife Francis was discovered at the E-arrival hall of the airport by personnel of NDLEA, Customs and others during a joint search operation by the security operatives while the suspect was attempting to smuggle the suitcases out of the hall.”

Police authorities in Bauchi State have apprehended a man accused of attempting to sell his five-year-old daughter for N1.5 million.

The suspect identified as Yusuf Umar, 49, claimed to be a staff of the Warji Local Government Council.

According to the police report, Umar had already arranged to hand over the child to an unknown person, unaware that the potential buyer was an undercover police detective.

“On the 26th of May 2024, the accused to the infant 5-year-old daughter from the estranged wife in Warji LGA under the pretence that he would take her to his sister in Bauchi town.

“Unknown to the mother, he had already arranged to hand the daughter to an unknown person not knowing that he is a police detective,” the Commissioner of Police in Bauchi Auwal Mohammed said.

He said the suspect was arrested in a hotel in Bauchi.

Meanwhile, the police also arrested four members of the professional hunters’ group for their involvement in criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide after torturing a young man named Jacob Ayuba to death on allegations that he stole N150,000.

Abba Kyari, a suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, has been released from the Kuje Correctional Centre in the Federal Capital Territory after spending 27 months in detention.

His release follows a series of legal battles and a recent court decision granting him bail.

Kyari was initially detained on February 14, 2022, by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for alleged involvement with an international drug cartel.

He was arraigned on March 7, 2022 along with four members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT)—Sunday Ubia, Bawa James, Simon Agirigba, and John Nuhu.

Additionally, two suspected drug traffickers, Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who were arrested at Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, were also charged.

While Kyari and the IRT members pleaded not guilty to the charges, Umeibe and Ezenwanne pleaded guilty and were subsequently convicted.

Despite multiple applications, Kyari’s requests for bail were repeatedly denied until a recent decision by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

On May 22, 2024, Emeka Nwite (Judge) granted Kyari bail to allow him to conclude the burial rites of his mother, Yachilla Kyari, who died on May 5.

As part of his bail conditions, Kyari was required to deposit his passport with the court and report to the nearest NDLEA office during the bail period.

The court scheduled May 31, 2024, for the hearing on Kyari’s main application for bail related to the drug trafficking charges.

Confirming the release, Adamu Duza, spokesperson of the Nigerian Correctional Service of the Federal Capital Territory Command, stated on Friday night, “DCP Kyari has perfected his bail conditions and has since been released today.”

The next steps in Kyari’s legal battle will unfold at the scheduled hearing later this month.