Edo State’s NDLEA command found a cannabis village of four large warehouses holding 233,778 kg of dried cannabis in Ukpuje forest, Owan West Local Government Area, and arrested seven suspected drug barons believed to run the trafficking syndicate.[1][2] The suspects were named as Emmanuel Oki, 62, the local vigilante chairman, Chief Odi Sabato, 42, Bright Inemi Edegbe, 53, Gowon Ehimigbai, 53, Enodi Ode, 37, Ayo Oni, 30, and Akhime Benjamin, 43.[1]

State commander Buba Wakawa said 318 bags of 80 kg and 15,853 bags of 13 kg were recovered, and that of the 233,778 kg total, 2,249 kg were seized while 231,529 kg were destroyed on the farm.[1][2] He called it the largest single concentration of cannabis discovered by the command, put its street value at over N1.4 billion, and credited new patrol vehicles from chairman Buba Marwa; the haul represented a large chunk of the previous planting season.[1][2] The operation was run with the Nigerian Army, which the command described as an unbeatable force against hard drugs.[2]