Nabbed cannabis dealer says he was just beginning to enjoy the fruit of his labour

A cannabis dealer, one Babatunde Busari, who was arrested in the Mushin area of Lagos on February 19, said he took to the outlawed business when his previous job in a car wash did not pay off.

The suspect who hails from Ibadan, Oyo State, said his life as a car cleaner was not the good life he had always dreamt of.

According to him, in a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday, he had never been arrested before.

Busari, who is in his 30s, is referred to as a notorious cannabis dealer in Mushin by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

When NDLEA raided his base on Friday, 22 sacks of Indian hemp weighing 301.2kg were reportedly recovered.

He reportedly told officials that he started the business two years ago, after many years of making little money working in a car wash.

He said, “I used to work in a car wash until a friend introduced me to the cannabis trade. At the beginning, my daily average sale was N5,000.

“I took over the business when my friend travelled out of the state few months ago. It is so painful that I was arrested when I was beginning to enjoy the fruit of my labour.”

According to the NDLEA spokesperson, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, officials of the agency decided to conduct a raid on the area around 3 am on Friday.

“The operation, which took place at about 3 am, was part of strategies to re-position the anti-narcotic agency for optimum performance.

“The agency discovered that drug dealers were using one of the shops in a market at Mushin as warehouse for illicit storage of drugs.

“Investigation revealed that the shop where the cannabis was found was always locked. The estimated street value of the seized cannabis is about N3m.”

The Lagos State Commander of the NDLEA, Mr. Aliyu Sule, confirmed the arrest disclosing that Busari was caught red-handed having been under surveillance for a few weeks.

Sule said, “The operation, which lasted for about an hour was very successful as there was no resistance. The suspect would soon be charged to court.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the anti-narcotic agency, Col. Muhammad Abdallah has given directives that all markets where drugs are sold should be dismantled.

“I want every notorious drug dealer arrested and prosecuted. We must remain strategic in our offensive and leverage on intelligence planning to overcome drug dealers at all times,” Abdallah was quoted as saying.

DailyPost