National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully apprehended a wanted drug baron, identified as 42-year-old Joachin Chikaodi Mbonu. Mbonu, who belongs to a major drug cartel responsible for the production and distribution of methamphetamine, popularly known as “mkpuru mmiri,” had fled to South Africa before being arrested in his village mansion in Imo State, Nigeria, on July 5.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the agency’s operatives were able to take down the drug cartel following Mbonu’s arrest, along with his associate.
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Babafemi said, “A major drug cartel behind the production and distribution of deadly psychoactive substance, methamphetamine, popularly called ‘Mkpuru mmiri’ has been taken down by operatives of the NDLEA following the arrest of the leader of the syndicate, 42-year-old Joachin Chikaodi Mbonu and his associate in his mansion tucked in his Umuomi village, Uzogba-Ezenomi autonomous community, Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State.”
The cartel, with operational bases in Imo and Rivers states, became a target of the agency following intelligence indicating it was responsible for the distribution of substantial quantities of methamphetamine in the South-East, South-South and other parts of the country.
During the operation, Babafemi said operatives recovered 419.99 grams of methamphetamine, 750 grams of iodine, and a pump action gun with four cartridges, among others.
He said, “After weeks of surveillance, officers of a special operations unit of the agency on Friday, July 5, 2024, tracked and traced the drug lord to his village mansion in Imo State, where he was caught with a member of his cartel, Kenneth Chibuike Ofoegbu, 34, with different quantities of methamphetamine, its precursor chemicals, a pump action gun and cartridges recovered.
“Exhibits recovered from the house include 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 electronic weighing scales and a pump action gun with four cartridges.”
Babafemi said the operatives also raided residences of Mbonu’s associates in Rivers and Imo states, recovering several illicit drugs.
