Three drug lords and 16 others sentenced to 302 years in prison

Three drug lords and 16 other criminals were found guilty of trafficking in illegal drugs and sentenced to a total of 302 years in prison.

They were accused of trafficking in cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis and opioids, among other things.

In a statement on Friday, the spokesperson of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Femi Babafemi, said the 19 convicts top the list of 414 drug traffickers and dealers convicted by the Federal High Court in Benue, Bauchi, Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Gombe and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, between July 1 and July 31, 2024 on charges arising under the NDLEA.

He said: “Three drug lords and 16 other offenders were found guilty of trafficking in illicit drugs including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis and opioids and sentenced to a total of 302 years in prison after being arrested and prosecuted by the NDLEA.

“The 19 convicts top the list of 414 drug traffickers and dealers convicted by the Federal High Court in Benue, Bauchi, Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Gombe and the Federal Capital Territory FCT Abuja between July 1 and 31, 2024 on charges filed against them by the anti-drugs agency.”

Babafemi said one of the three masterminds, 50-year-old Bolanle Dauda, ​​was arrested on May 25, 2024, in an intelligence-led raid by operatives of a special unit of the NDLEA in Ibiye along the Lagos-Badagry expressway while attempting to cross the land border to deliver the consignment in Ghana.

“At the time of his arrest, 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms were found on him. A quick follow-up investigation at his residence at Plot 24/25 OPIC Extension, Petedo Road, Agbara, Ogun State, recovered another eight blocks of the same drug weighing 10 kilograms, making the total weight of cocaine seized from him 57.5 kilograms.
He was subsequently arraigned before Honourable Justice Ambrose Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos under charge number FHC/L/537C/2024.

“In his judgment dated July 19, 2024, Judge Allagoa sentenced him to 21 years imprisonment or the payment of an optional fine of 30 million naira,” the statement added.

Babafemi also said that another drug lord who was put behind bars was Ikeh Stanley Ifeanyi, 34, who was arrested at the popular Idumota market on Lagos Island, where he was found to be in possession of no fewer than 1,100 vials of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl weighing 6,480kg.

He added: “The dangerous opioid is 100 times more potent than heroin and is currently responsible for over 70% of overdose deaths and a leading cause of fatal and non-fatal overdoses in the United States.

“He was later arraigned before Justice Kehinde Ogundare of the Federal High Court in Lagos under charge number FHC/L/433C/2024. In his judgment delivered on July 4, 2024, the trial judge found Ifeanyi guilty on both counts and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment or a fine of 2 million naira.”

He said the third drug lord, Christian Anyanwu, was arrested on November 26, 2022. He had hidden 1.4 kilograms of methamphetamine in pudding containers packed between cosmetics and food and transported to Brazil on a Qatar Airways flight via Doha.

He was subsequently arraigned before Justice Yellin Bogoro of the Federal High Court, Lagos and convicted on July 12, 2024. In his judgment, the trial judge sentenced Anyanwu to 16 years in prison, including four years in prison without the possibility of fine.

Babafemi added: “Other persons who received mandatory prison sentences for drug trafficking in July include Moses Yakubu, who was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment on July 22 by Justice Rita Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court Abuja, and Oluosun Okikiol, who was found guilty on July 17 by Justice A. An Okeke of the Federal High Court Abeokuta, Ogun State and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

“In the same vein, Justice RJ Abubakar of the Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi, Benue State, on July 9, sentenced Chanchan Terpase to seven years imprisonment, while Justice CO Obiozor of the Federal High Court sitting in Benin, Edo State, sentenced Beauty Gani to 30 years imprisonment or payment of an optional fine of 8 million naira on July 3, 2024.”