The Edo Command of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it secured the conviction of 67 drug traffickers in the state in 2023.
The state’s Sector Commander of the agency, Mr Buba Wakawa, told newsmen on Sunday in Benin that the convicts were among the suspects arrested between January and December of the year under review.
According to him, out of the 173 suspects arrested and charged in court in the year, 67 were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment by the courts in the state after they were convicted of crimes.
Wakawa noted, however, that 106 cases involving the drug suspects were still pending at different stages in the courts.
The sector commander further disclosed that during the year, 414 drug-dependent people were arrested by the drug reduction unit across the state.
These drug dependents, he said, were arrested, counselled, and reunited with their families.
While appealing to the people of the state to support the agency with useful information to enable it succeed in the fight against illicit drugs, the NDLEA boss called on communities across the state to stop giving land to people for the cultivation of drug substances.
