National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, says it seized 146.82kg of illicit drugs between January and June 2019.

Its Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command, says it also apprehended 33 suspected traffickers during the period at the airport.

According to its Commander, Garba Ahmadu, said this while speaking with newsmen on Wednesday on the sidelines of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Lagos.

He said 28 males and five females were nabbed with various illicit drugs carefully concealed in different ways to beat the anti-drug officers at the airport.

He said, “These drugs include: Cocaine, Methamphetamine, Cannabis Sativa, Heroine and Ephedrine.

“They were concealed inside tomato cans, baby diapers, food stuff, and body-lotion containers as well as by ingestion.’’

The commander said cocaine weighed 15.58kg; heroin weighed 14.72kg; cannabis sativa weighed 54.14kg; methamphetamine weighed 34.24kg and ephedrine weighed 28.14kg.

He said the agency also seized three internal concealment that the victims used to swallow.

Ahmadu also advised airlines to always deploy senior officials to airports for baggage tagging.

He said this was because some cartels in connivance with unscrupulous airline and ground handling employees were alleged to always want to plant drugs in the passengers’ luggage.

Also, Nasarawa State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested 49 drug ealers since 2018 and rehabilitated 245 drug users.

Its Commander, Justice Arinze, made this known while briefing newsmen in Lafia on Wednesday in commemoration of the 2019 United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Arinze said the suspected barons were arrested from July 2018 to June 2019 from various parts of the state.

According to him, over 98 kilograms of narcotic drugs were seized within the period under review.

The NDLEA boss said 39 of the suspected drug barons had been successfully prosecuted at the Federal High Court in Lafia, with 10 other cases ongoing.

He said the agency, through its counseling programme, rehabilitated 245 drug users in the state without any case of relapse within the period.

Arinze said the focus of this year’s commemoration is on how to save the children as future leaders from the scourge of drugs.

He said the agency had engaged in sensitisation campaign, using the media on the inherent dangers of drug abuse.

According to him, the agency has also taken its campaign to prison and markets in order to effectively sensitise the target groups.