In a two days operation, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency( NDLEA) have arrested a cannabis syndicates operating in the Opuje forests in Edo state where massive warehouses and tents storing over 317,417 kilograms (317.4 metric tons) of the psychoactive substance were destroyed and set ablaze .
Director, Media & Advocacy of the Agency, Femi Babafemi, made the disclosure in a statement, today.
According to the press release, a police impersonator, Omoruan Theophilus, 37, who parades as a Police Inspector to convey the drugs from the forests and other cities was arrested.
The impersonator was arrested alongside and three others: Aigberuan Jacob, 42, Ekeinde Anthony Zaza, 53, and Naomi Patience Ohiewere, 42, in connection with the drugs.
Parts of the statement reads “ The Opuje community in Owan West Local Government Area, Edo State, is notorious for cannabis cultivation, where the cartels invest huge resources, cutting down economic trees of the forest reserves and cultivating cannabis on a large scale, running into hundreds of hectares.
“After harvest, they build warehouses inside the forest reserves and employ the services of armed youths to protect the warehouses 24/7.
“Accessing the forest on Wednesday 18h January took hours of Trekking by hundreds of NDLEA operatives who were ambushed With bonfire by armed youths on their way out of the Community the following day but were able to successfully Leave the area without any casualty .”