The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Friday arrested two persons, Matthew Onumba and Ojukwwu Henry, suspected to be drug smugglers in the Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State.
The suspects, who disguised as policemen, were stopped while conveying 50 bags of dried weeds, suspected to be cannabis sativa and weighing 685 kilograms, along Okpella-Okene road.
They were said to have operated with a black Toyota Hiace bus with registration number AKR 392 LZ and labelled with stickers of the emblem of the Nigeria Police.
NDLEA commander in Edo State, Buba Wakawa, described the two suspects as members of a drug syndicate specialised in smuggling cannabis from the South to North-West region of the country.
Mr Wakawa explained that their bus had reportedly taken off from Uzebba, in the Owan West Local Government Area of the state, en route to Kaduna State, when it was intercepted during a search operation by officers of the agency.
He added that the suspected smugglers had also attached a siren to the vehicle in a bid to evade security checks by the police.
The commander also disclosed that 2,412kg of cannabis was seized when operatives of the command raided a forest in Okpuje, in a separate operation.
“The black bus with tainted glass had a siren and police stickers both at the front and rear to deceive unsuspecting members of the public as well as security personnel. It has all the paraphernalia of an official police vehicle but all is a ruse.
“So much has been invested into this operation and I am glad that our efforts have been rewarded,” Wakawa said.
