Troops of the 192nd Battalion, 81st Division, nigerian armyhave intercepted an alleged transnational drug syndicate along the Balogun border in Ogun State.
According to the Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, troops discovered 296 wrappers of illicit substances, believed to be Cannabis Sativa, hidden in a 2001 Sienna model space bus with registration Lagos APP 129 EF.
The suspects, Adigun Olatunji, 54, and Michael Atanda, 18, both residents of Ilara Imeko in Afun Local Government Area of Ogun State but living in Benin Republic, were arrested after an attempted bribed troops with N12 million.
Army investigation revealed that the illicit substance had been transported from Benin Republic through Ilara border communities en route to Ifo, Ogun State.
According to Nwachukwu, the traffickers, whose business is transporting drugs from one country to another, had spent five months hiding the marijuana to deliver to their clients.
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Some of the items recovered include a Benin Republic national identity card, a Nigerian national identity card, two small Itel mobile phones, a Benin Republic driving licence, an international Benin Republic passport, six Benin Republic SIM packs, two Benin Republic SIM cards, a Nigerian Driving License and the sum of 52,700 Naira.
The suspects and seized items, Nwachukwu said, will be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for processing.
In a similar incident in July last year, troops of the Nigerian Army arrested a Beninese man, Matthew Edegbe, and a Nigerian, Joshua Dansu, while they were trying to smuggle a truck loaded with 397 wrappers of suspected marijuana into the country in the local government area. from Yewa South of Ogún State.