http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/feb/22/national-22-02-2009-03.htm

Cocaine Business!
Female couriers offer us sex – NDLEA boss
• Says: Herbalists mislead them; Edo Hq of drugs
By SAMUEL OLATUNJI
Sunday, February 22, 2009

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Director General of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr. Lanre Ipimisho has sensationally revealed the temptations that his operatives face in their crusade to rid the country of narcotics and thus make the society a better place to live.

Chief among them is the offer of sex by female suspects, and money by the males, for the operatives to look the other way while they ferry away their cargoes of death.
He also shed light on the reason people still indulge in the illicit business of drug peddling despite the jail term it carries. According to him, some are being deceived by herbalists who give them the false hope of security after shaving their pubic hair.

Beside, Ipimisho described Edo State as the headquarters of drug seizures and arrest in the country.
Bellow are excerpts:

It was reported that Chairman of EFCC said some governors are drug barons, is there substance in that allegation?
I haven’t read it because I traveled. However, as far as our record is concerned, we don’t have any governor on our list. We do not have such a case at hand and we will do whatever we can to make sure that we don’t have such an embarrassment. That is why we carry out all the enlightenment campaign, particularly to youths. It is true that some of them don’t have jobs now but they have names to protect. Because, by the time they drag their name in the mud and they feel they can later assume positions of authority, we will tell them that they cannot because they’ve thrown away the name long time ago.

I know SSS does security checks on political appointees and those vying for political offices. Does NDLEA do that as well?
It’s the same request that SSS gets that all other security agencies get. We got same request on the last recipients of national honours. It is not something we would like to expose because of it sensitive nature.

Are we winning or losing the drug war?
Without fear of contradiction, we are winning because if we are not fighting this war, where would we have been? What would have happened to the 80 tons of cannabis that we seized in Ibadan if there was no NDLEA? It would have gone into the system. What would have happened to 14 tons that we seized at the port or the 60 kilograms of heroin in Kano? What would have happened to those that we’ve counseled, that are back at their schools and various offices? When we look at this statistics, we are convinced that we are winning.

But we have people smoking Marijuana freely on the streets.
The fact that there was an armed robbery yesterday does not mean the police are not working. As I speak with you, the staff strength of NDLEA is a little bit below 3, 500.

Does that not mean you are under-staffed?
No, it means that at the moment, that is the number government can allow at the NDLEA. The agency is one of several agencies funded by the government. Other areas must be funded too. If you ask if we need more hands, I’ll say yes. What we do is train and re-train the ones we have. Someone told me that with 3, 500 a local government will not get up to five people and I said yes because all the 3, 500 are not field agents. But if you look at this government’s commitment it is something that gives encourage one to do more. What we got last year was more than what the agency has been getting in the last 17 years.

Does that mean that Yar’Adua’s government is more committed to the drug war?
We are making progress. Obasanjo’s government started it but the greatest commitment has been from Yar’Adua’s government.

Drug usage
The excitement people get from drug is just for a moment and the damage is for life. Benelin with codin cough syrup dosage. With the way we are going, Benelin with codin will become drug you can’t buy without a doctor’s prescription. That is what lots of youths are using at parties now because it gives same effect as drugs. Some youths also go to latrines and inhale the heat coming from it, saying it makes them high. How do we tell them not to buy petrol and soak in handkerchief and inhale the odour saying it makes them high again? More than 70% of these heinous crimes you see are predicated on drugs.

Parents
Check your children’s room and their manners. Parents need to start looking beyond government and start looking around for tell-tale signs. For instance, when you see that young people are always mingling with a particular person and you don’t know what that person does, that is when to start asking questions. He might be engaging the boys for trafficking of drugs. We need to help ourselves because there is limit to what government can do. We have less than 3, 500 and that is not enough to station in every local government in Nigeria. The only way you can help is to give us information. People even hide their children who smoke marijuana because they don’t want people to talk.

Is it true that drug has contributed to rising cases of mentally-unsound persons around here?
From the record made available to us, cannabis has contributed largely to the number of madness we see on the roads today.

Why is drug suddenly getting more popular?
The greed today is more. Look at the numbers of youths arrested for armed robbery yet we still have more of them going into it. We’ve prosecuted over 3000 people yet it does not serve as deterrent to others. Nigerians are aware that those who carry drugs to Saudi Arabia would be beheaded yet Nigerians still take drug there? They get false confidence from herbalists that tell them that because the pubic air and eyelid had been shaved, they won’t get caught.

But some people claim the juju does work.
It is not true. The juju is to deceive them. The baron knows if not why didn’t he give it to his son if he is not going to be caught after all?

NDLEA and court
More than 65% cases in High Court are drug-related cases and we get convictions. Most suspects don’t deny because they are not afraid of the three months they would get. They are equally not afraid of the N300, 000 fine. Of course, he is not the one to pay because the baron has told him that if he runs into difficulties, he would pay the fine.

Are the sentences too light?
Yes, it is like a pat on the back. The baron would just tell them to make more money next time so that they would be able to pay the fine. If you ask me, I would say the judges disobey the order of the Supreme Court, which says 15 years imprisonment. It is strange that they do so.

Is that not encouraging drug traffickers?
Yes, they (convicts) will tell you that they would soon be back to enjoy their money. When you free these boys easily, you are encouraging armed robbery, assassinations, militantancy because most of the time when they are arrested, they are usually with drugs.

What has been your biggest catch?
It was in Ibadan where we got 80.3 tons of cannabis last year. The three-bedroom apartment was filled with cannabis along side a bullion van parked outside. We got 60.4 kilogrammes of heroin at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport. That was about one point something billion naira worth of heroin. Again we have destroyed 14 hectares of cannabis farmland in Ekiti State. Edo State is headquarters of seizures and arrests in large quantity. Luckily the government and traditional rulers have promised to do something about it. They even pointed a place to us.

What’s your biggest conviction?
We have somebody, Akindele Ikumoluyi, alias Ile-Eru, who is serving 20 years now. He was one of the people celebrated by musicians. When we are able to do a big one like that, people just ignore because we are a government agency.

Do suspects or barons offer you bribes?
There is no baron that will not offer bribe. They do all sorts of things to get out but that further convince us that we have caught the right person. My officers have been offered all sort of things. The women even offer you sleep with them.

Rehabilitation
If you keep quiet and watch your sons, the thing is there is 70% possibility that they’ll never get out of it. It is not just in Nigeria, it’s all over the world. Anyone who gets involved with drug is 70% gone.

na whaooo

interesting