The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA) says harder times await drug barons as it will intensify its fight against illicit drugs.
This was disclosed by the Secretary of the agency, Shadrach Haruna, who represented the Chairman of the agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd) on Monday.
He assured that NDLEA would go after anyone who peddles drugs, who he described as a ‘merchant of death.’
He spoke on the sidelines of the 3rd Annual Lecture Series on Drugs organised by the leadership of the National Assembly and the National Association of Nigerian Drug Monitoring (NANDRUM), in Abuja where they commended NDLEA for the fight against the drug menace in the country.
In his words, “We all know that drug abuse has been a challenge in this country and it’s a scourge to many homes. We have seen an increase in banditry, terrorism and all manner of violent crimes and societal vices in the country, and they are associated with drug and substance abuse. What NDLEA is committed to doing is to free Nigeria and Nigerians from the problems of drug and substance abuse,”
Reacting to questions on the involvement of privileged persons in society in drug peddling, the NDLEA Secretary explained that “they are the cartels that have been the focus of arrest by NDLEA in recent times.”
He said: “The elite are the drug barons and drug cartels, and if you follow the news recently, you will discover that NDLEA has about twenty drug barons in their net.”
