The Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency has said the South-West geopolitical zone has the largest cannabis plantations in the country, with 1,404.27 hectares of cannabis farmland destroyed in 2012.

Of this, Ekiti State tops the list of states in the zone, with 764 hectares of cannabis farmland.

In data SUNDAY PUNCH obtained from the Head, Public Affairs, NDLEA, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, on Friday, the agency said the plantations were concentrated in Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Ogun and Oyo states.

It added that Delta and Edo states in the South-South top the list of states with the largest cannabis farms from other zones.

NDLEA said, of the 8,052 drug suspects arrested, North-West had the highest with 2,185.

This was followed by South-West, with 1,591; South-South, 1,480; North-Central, 1,230; South-East, 960; and North-East, 606.

The agency seized 233,700kg of narcotics in the year under review, with the South-South having the highest, with 106,676.716kg.

The South-West came second, with 94,036.265kg; North-Central, 14,472.309kg; North-West, 10,357.895kg; North-East, 4,548.268kg; and South-East, 3,608.309kg.

On the list of states with the largest volume of drugs seized, Edo led with 81,541.71kg. Ondo had 61,246.35kg; Delta, 23,418.48kg; Ogun, 8,469.99kg; Oyo, 7,232.08kg; and Ekiti, 6,685.23kg.

Kano State recorded the highest number of arrests, with 705 suspects – all males.

Katsina State came second, with 411 suspects —407 males and four females. Plateau State recorded 384 arrests — 369 males and 15 females. Ekiti State had 383 suspects — 349 males and 34 females.

Others include Lagos, with 321 suspects — 305 males and 16 females; Delta, 292 suspects — 243 males and 49 females.

Ofoyeju noted that the statistics assisted the NDLEA in resources allocation and personnel deployment in line with the rating of the geographical locations.

He added that it helped the agency in planning raid operations and public enlightenment campaign programmes.

Ofoyeju said, “The Chairman of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, recently posited that cannabis cultivation has serious implication on national economy and security.

“Cannabis eradication is one of our priority concerns. It prevents cannabis from struggling with legitimate crops for arable land. Incentive is taken from the drug cartel, while legitimate farmers are encouraged to grow food and cash crops. Besides cutting off supply to the trafficker and drug addicts, cannabis control promotes national economy and security.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/south-west-has-largest-cannabis-farms-ndlea/

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