NDLEA busts 75-year-old with drugs, destroys massive cannabis farm in Taraba

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended a 75-year-old man, Uchelue Ikechukwu, in Anambra State for alleged possession of illicit substances.

In a statement issued Sunday in Abuja, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi confirmed that the septuagenarian was among several suspects arrested during recent operations targeting drug trafficking in the state.

According to Babafemi, Ikechukwu was caught with 26.7 kilograms of skunk in Umudioka, Dunukofia Local Government Area on Thursday.

“They were arrested with various quantities of opioids and skunk at Nkwelle and Amichi areas of the state,” he said, adding that six other suspects were also taken into custody.

In a separate operation, NDLEA agents—working alongside the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Forest Security Service, Mambila Youth Vanguard, and local vigilantes—raided a 71.5-hectare cannabis farm in Mayodoga forest, Taraba State. The enforcement team destroyed 178,750 kilograms of skunk and arrested a 30-year-old suspect found on the site with a dane gun.

“They stormed his 71.5 hectares of cannabis farm located at Mayodoga Forest, Mayosabere ward in Sardauna LGA, Taraba, where they destroyed 178,750 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis,” Babafemi explained.