A drug baron on the wished listing of the Nationwide Drug Legislation Enforcement Company, recognized as Joachin Mbonu, has been arrested.
Mbonu was arrested by operatives of the NDLEA in his village mansion in Imo State on July 5.
An announcement on Tuesday by the company’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, mentioned Mbonu was arrested alongside along with his affiliate.
He said that Mbonu belongs to a drug cartel behind the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
Babafemi mentioned, “A significant drug cartel behind the manufacturing and distribution of lethal psychoactive substance, methamphetamine, popularly known as ‘Mkpuru mmiri’ has been taken down by operatives of the NDLEA following the arrest of the chief of the syndicate, 42-year-old Joachin Chikaodi Mbonu and his affiliate in his mansion tucked in his Umuomi village, Uzogba-Ezenomi autonomous neighborhood, Ikeduru Native Authorities Space of Imo State.”
The cartel, with operational bases in Imo and Rivers states, turned a goal of the company following intelligence indicating it was answerable for the distribution of considerable portions of methamphetamine within the South-East, South-South and different components of the nation.
In the course of the operation, Babafemi mentioned operatives recovered 419.99 grams of methamphetamine, 750 grams of iodine, and a pump motion gun with 4 cartridges, amongst others.
He mentioned, “After weeks of surveillance, officers of a particular operations unit of the company on Friday, July 5, 2024, tracked and traced the drug lord to his village mansion in Imo State, the place he was caught with a member of his cartel, Kenneth Chibuike Ofoegbu, 34, with completely different portions of methamphetamine, its precursor chemical substances, a pump motion gun and cartridges recovered.
“Displays recovered from the home embrace 419.99 grams of methamphetamine; 750 grams of iodine, a precursor chemical for meth; 500 grams of sodium bicarbonate, a precursor chemical for meth; two digital weighing scales and a pump motion gun with 4 cartridges.”
Babafemi mentioned the operatives additionally raided residences of Mbonu’s associates in Rivers and Imo states, recovering a number of illicit medicine.
He mentioned, “The operatives moved swiftly to a different of Mbonu’s hideouts positioned at 11 Redemption Avenue, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the place they recovered further reveals: 750 grams of processed sodium bicarbonate; 170 grams of plain sodium bicarbonate and 75 grams of meth.
“One other raid within the house of considered one of Mbonu’s associates, Odoemenam Pedro Chinedu, at present at giant, at Njaba LGA, Imo State, led to the restoration of one other pump motion gun with 25 cartridges, amongst different objects. Whereas the kingpin cools his heels in custody, two of his mansions in Imo State have been marked for attainable forfeiture to the Federal Authorities.”
Babafemi said that Mbonu had escaped from South Africa, the place he lived for years, and mastered the artwork of cooking methamphetamine after he got here underneath investigation for drug dealings.
He added that upon his return to Nigeria, he continued the legal commerce by organising clandestine laboratories in distant villages to protect his nefarious actions.
