The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja has seized 4,832.74kg of various drugs and arrested 309 suspected drug traffickers.
Among the drugs seized are 102 bottles of cough syrup with codeine content.
The bottles of cough syrup were found in an abandoned defunct NITEL box at Wuse Zone 4 during a raid operation.
The seized drugs also include cannabis, 4,787.35kg; psychotropic substances, 44.86kg; cocaine, 428 grammes; and methamphetamine, 103 grammes.
They were all intercepted between January and October 2014.
The NDLEA spokesman, Mitchel Ofoyeju, said suspected drug traffickers arrested within the period were 309, consisting of 12 females and 297 males.
Ofoyeju said: “The NDLEA equally won the conviction of 101 accused persons in 10 months while other cases are still pending. Items forfeited from those convicted include 22 vehicles and 14 motorcycles. Counseling and rehabilitation services were also provided for 79 persons with drug abuse problem.”
The NDLEA Chairman, Ahmadu Giade, said that those convicted by the law courts included Abubakar Sadiq, 21; and Abdullahi Haruna, 22, both from Gwoza in Borno State.
They were sentenced to six years imprisonment each for dealing in 0.8 grammes of cocaine and 1.6 grammes of cocaine respectively.
Giade said: “Olaniyi Oluata, 32, from Owo, Ondo State was sentenced to six years for dealing in 3.2 grammes of cocaine, while Oluwagbemiga David from Otta, Ogun State got six years for trafficking 105kg of cannabis.”
The NDLEA boss said “no stone shall be left unturned in the quest for a drug-free society.”
He said that efforts were ongoing to conduct more raids on criminal hideouts and dislodge drug traffickers within the FCT and other parts of the country.
The FCT commander of the NDLEA, Obiefule Dennis Chidi, said those rehabilitated are mainly youths who abuse cannabis, cough syrup with codeine and other drugs.
Chidi added: “Let me call on parents to take advantage of our free counseling and rehabilitation programme. In the past 10 months, the FCT command successfully rehabilitated 79 persons mostly youths who had been re-united with their families.”
He urged parents to be vigilant and seek timely help for their children and wards, stressing that some youths poured the cough syrups inside beverage containers to avoid suspicion.