NDLEA nabs wanted drug Baron, Ashoko, busts Edo Cartel

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended Sami Ashoko, a wanted drug baron in the Shinge area of Nasarawa.

The operatives raided his warehouse filled with skunks. 100 bags of the illicit drug weighing 1,095.3kg were seized.

NDLEA spokesman, in a statement on Tuesday, said Ashoko was nabbed during the Easter holidays.

Ashoko, 39, who hails from Ibilo in the Akoko Edo area of Edo, was intercepted after a tip-off by intelligence sources.

NDLEA Commander in Nasarawa, Justice Arinze, was quoted as saying Ashoko had been on the agency’s watch list.

“This seizure has beaten the previous record of 45 bags weighing about half a ton recovered in January 2021. It is the highest singular seizure of cannabis since the inception of the Command in 1999.”

Also arrested were Badamasi and Adamu Abba, members of another cartel in Iyamho, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo.

Their illicit consignment, 950 compressed blocks of cannabis, weighing 1,330kg meant for Bauchi were seized.

Edo NDLEA Commander, Buba Wakawa, disclosed the suspects tried to escape in a white-colored Peugeot J5 space bus with registration number Lagos JJJ 722 XC.

Another trafficker, who supplies drugs to some notorious drug joints in Abuja, was arrested along the Gwagwalada expressway.

NDLEA Commander in FCT, Mohammed Salami, said the suspect confessed he delivered substances to major drug joints in Abuja.