Top Traditional Priest Arrested For Drug Trafficking, Seize Australia-Bound Cocaine Hidden In Cream Bottles
A traditional chief priest, Bariu Aliu, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Igunuko shrine in Alpha Beach, Ajah, Lekki area of Lagos State over alleged drug trafficking.
Aliu, also known as ‘Malo’, has been accused of being the leader of a drug trafficking syndicate linked to the recovery of 2,760 kilograms of skunk at the shrine in October 2024.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy in a statement on Sunday asserted that two of Aliu’s accomplices were previously arrested, charged, and convicted.
The statement reads in part, “In Lagos, the traditional chief priest of the Igunuko shrine, Alpha beach Ajah Lekki where 2,760kg skunk was recovered on 25th October 2024, Bariu Aliu (alias Malo) has been arrested by NDLEA operatives after over three months of manhunt for him.
“Though two of his accomplices were earlier arrested at the shrine last year and had since been charged and convicted in court, Bariu was said to be the leader of the syndicate.”
It said, “In another raid in the FCT, two suspects: Anthony Nnamdi, 42, and Abba Ali, 27, were arrested by NDLEA officers at Nyanya, where a combined 1.398kg cocaine and a precursor substance used in preparing crack cocaine were recovered from them.
“No fewer than 20 wraps of cocaine weighing 330grams have been recovered from a cargo going to Australia at a logistics firm in Lagos by officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, in NDLEA. The cocaine parcels were concealed around the body of face cream containers in the shipment.
“A total of Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight Thousand Two Hundred (338,200) bottles of codeine-based syrup worth more than One Billion One Hundred and Ninety Million One Hundred and Sixty-Eight Thousand Two Hundred Naira (N1,190,168,200.00) in street value, were intercepted in two containers watch-listed by the Agency following processed intelligence.
“The illicit consignments were discovered during joint examination of the containers by NDLEA operatives, Customs and other security agencies on Thursday 9th and Friday 10th January 2025 at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers state.”
“A suspect, Habibu Ya’u, 23, was nabbed by NDLEA officers who raided Gadar Tamburawa, Zaria Road, Kano on Thursday 9th January where they recovered 45 blocks of cannabis weighing 24.2kg; and 40,800 pills of opioids including tramadol from him,” it added.
