Date: 2017-01-17

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Kwara State yesterday said it arrested 50 persons for suspected drug peddling. Among them was a 65-year-old woman arrested in Kulende, Ilorin, at the weekend.

Commander Pedro Ideba, who paraded six of the suspects yesterday, said others had been freed after investigation proved they were not directly involved in the crime.

Ideba, who said the arrest followed information supplied by residents of the community, added that the suspects kept the substances in a hole inside their shops.

He identified some of the drugs recovered as cough syrup, tramadol tablets, codeine, cannabis sativa, charms, among others, adding that the suspects bribed his men with N15,000 to evade arrest.

His words: "Before now, we received series of petitions and complaints from residents of Kulende/Sango area of Ilorin South, pointing to the fact that hoodlums had taken over parts of the community for nefarious activities.

"The suspects sell the drugs with impunity. We arrested the owners of the business, two apprentices and users of the drugs. Though, we arrested some passers-by, we later filtered them down and we now have the six direct culprits.

"Some of them were arrested as they used the area as take-off points to commit crime. But since we couldn't find any direct incriminating evidence against them, we let them off.

"The shop owners dug the floor to hide the drugs and only sold to known customers, because they know it's an offence to sell illicit drugs. "We plan to hand them over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further actions."