The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), says it will go after supermarkets, clubs and confectioneries selling cakes, cookies, biscuits and other products as a preventive measure.
This was disclosed while the NDLEA’s Chairman, Rtd Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, was receiving further briefing on follow-up operations from the Commander, NDLEA in the FCT, Mohammed Sokoto over the arrest of a 300-level university student, and her boyfriend.
Recall that the suspects, Rhoda Agboje and her boyfriend, Ifeanyi Nwankwo were on Tuesday, arrested for allegedly producing and selling drugged cookies to school children, clubs and supermarkets in Abuja.
The cookies were reportedly produced with Arizona; a highly psychoactive variant of cannabis; alcohol and rohypnol among other ingredients.
Marwa, in a statement by the agency’s Director, Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi on Friday in Abuja, said;
”The NDLEA will henceforth go after supermarkets as part of preventive measures.
”This include, Clubs, confectioneries and other outlets and their owners, selling cookies, biscuits, cakes and other products laced with illicit substances under whatever guise.
”We will not shy away from hitting their production spots, supply and sales outlets before they get into the hands of innocent schoolchildren, unsuspecting members of the public and even our vulnerable young men and women.
“We will not rest on this until we chase them out of this criminal business. This is why I want to seize this opportunity to warn owners and operators of supermarkets, clubs and other sales outlets to clean their stores of these illicit substances before we get to them” he said.
According to Marwa, the cookies laced with drugs were packaged in designed paper wraps under the name “Function” with its motto as “function right with every bite.”
He said that at the back of the package was a quote the suspects attributed to God to justify their illicit trade quoting as “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seeds, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.”
