The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) say it has arrested one Okon Bassey, for allegedly being in possession of 244 permanent voter cards (PVC) in Akwa Ibom State and dislodged 35 drug joints and hotspots in Kano State ahead of the elections.

A sum of N310,000 was said to have been recovered from the suspect, who was arrested in Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

The agency said it also arrested 120 suspected hard drug dealers found to be in possession of 51kg of cannabis, 259gm of heroin, 17gm of cocaine, 500gm of Tramadol Diazepam and Polypro.

The NDLEA said it made the arrest during a raid of many black spots in Akwa Ibom, Kano and Oyo states.

Among the drug joints raided in Kano were Plaza, Sanya-Olu, Kabuga, Rimin-Kebe, Danzaki Village, Sauna, Wurare, Aisami, Sabon Titi, Dorayi, Hauren-Gadagi, Kwanar Dan-Marke Motor Park, Chalawa, Madobi, Ring Road, Farawa Village, Mariri Motor Park and Kofar- Ruwa.

The NDLEA said it had recently uncovered illegal hard drug laboratory in Ibadan, Oyo state, where the production of skushi, a derivative potpourri of illicit and controlled drugs, was produced illegally.

A statement issued in Abuja on Friday by the NDLEA Assistant Commandant General of Narcotics, Femi Oloruntoba, quoted the agency’s Chairman/CEO Col Mustapha Abdallah (retd), as saying the organisation would continue to work hard to rid the nation of criminal hideouts and flashpoints ahead of the general elections.

The NDLEA said the suspected thief of PVCs had been handed over to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for further investigation, while others caught with hard drugs had been charged to court.

Abdallah said:

“Despite the challenges being faced by our officers and men in terms of manpower and logistics, they have performed creditably in clearing political thugs and drug addicts’ hideouts within few days of its sting operation.

“Only last Sunday, four officers and men of the agency were murdered by suspected drug dealers in Ifon, Ondo State while searching for drugs being transported from Edo State to the northern part of the country.

“Operatives of the agency in Akwa Ibom State have arrested one Okon Bassey and recovered from him 244 Permanent Voter Cards belonging to different people and a sum of N310,000. This suspect was arrested at Mbo Local Government Area.

“These suspects were arrested during the pre-election raid by operatives of the NDLEA in order to reduce acts of violence during the elections. The efforts of our officers also paid off with the arrest of one Joy Adams, a notorious heroin dealer in Akwa Ibom State, for allegedly being in possession of 239g of heroin.”