[size=14pt]1,005 Bags of marijuana discovered in Ibadan residence * Market value put at N80m[/size]
Written by Oluwatoyin Malik
Sunday, March 27, 2011


PETER Boxing, a suspected Indian Hemp merchant, was expecting a huge profit from his 'business'. He had been storing bags of marijuana in a rented house at Akobo area of Ibadan, though he lived in Delta State. He knew what he was doing when he rented that particular building. It has a very high fence which would keep out prying eyes and that was the kind of place he needed for his 'business'. So he kept stockpiling the rooms in the house with bags of marijuana, expecting a bumper harvest in form of profit he would make at the peak of season for the banned drug.

[img]http://odili.net/news/source/2011/mar/27/tribune/images/marijuana[1].jpg[/img]
The bags of marijuana on display at police headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan. Photo: Oluwatoyin Malik

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The police in Oyo State however busted his 'business' on Tuesday March 22, when acting on information, they stormed the house and recovered 1,005 bags tightly packed into three rooms. To enter each of the room was impossible without removing some of the bags, a police officer said, showing the expertise with which the business was being carried out by the suspected merchant. Policemen from Special Anti-Robbery Squad SARS), Dugbe, Ibadan laid siege to the house and kept watch while the operation lasted.


Speaking with journalists at the headquarters of the Oyo State Police Command, Eleyele on Wednesday, March 23, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Mr Mohammed Ladan said it was the owner of the house who came to inform the police of his suspicion. According to Mr Ladan, "the owner of the house does not stay in Nigeria, he lives in the United States. He handed the building over to an agent who in turn rented the place out to one Peter. When he came home recently, he decided to check on his property but was surprised to see the place locked up. He suspected that some things were in the house and reported at the nearest police station. Detectives were detailed to go to the house to see what was happening.


"On getting there, the police saw one person in the compound and he was immediately arrested. On searching the rooms, we discovered each of them with bags of weeds suspected to be marijuana. By the time the bags were evacuated and counted, there were 1,005 bags in all. The bags of weeds were thereafter brought to the command headquarters."


Mr Ladan said preliminary investigations would be conducted by the police after which the suspects and the exhibits would be transferred to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigations. He added that the suspect arrested claimed that he was only employed by the owner and knew nothing about the bags of weeds. The Deputy Commissioner of Police told journalists further that the suspect told the police his employer was paying him N12,000 monthly which was divided into two and paid fortnighly.


Sunday Tribune gathered that the owner of the bags of weeds used to come from Delta State to Ibadan purposely to check on his 'goods' to make sure they were intact. "According to Anthony, the arrested suspect, once Peter checked and they were intact, he would go back to his base. He would only be communicating with his employee through the phone", Mr Ladan said.


He said efforts were on to get the agent who rented the place out to Peter, so that he would help in locating him. He said the police in Oyo State had been going around to ensure the mop-up of such drugs that could induce crime, saying that another recovery of bags of weeds suspected to be Indian hemp was made in Akanran area. "The suspect has been arrested and the vehicle used in conveying the bags of weeds has also been recovered by policemen in Akanran Division", he added.


Mr Ladan appealed to members of the public to always help the police by supplying information that could enhance effective policing and help nab criminals, saying that police are no spirits that could work magic if there is no support from the police.

http://odili.net/news/source/2011/mar/27/613.html