THE alarmingly growing number of married women involved with drug abuse has been described as the biggest challenge of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the state.
The NDLEA commander in the state, Mr Abubakar Idris Ahmad said this in an interview with Voice of America, Hausa Service, on Friday.
According to the NDLEA Kano Boss, the agency has has seized nine tonnes of illicit drugs worth N1.5 billion and arrested 1,078 suspects in Kano in 12 months but there biggest challenge remains the growing number of married women involved with drug abuse in the state.
Ahmed added that the agency raided 82 spots within and outside the Kano metropolis to arrest and seize different illicit drugs in their quest to bolster crime reduction among the larger populace in the state through eradicating drug abuse and trafficking.
“As a result, 1,078 suspects were arrested, including 951 males and 127 females. The total drugs seized within the period under review is 8,386.733kg, which is made up of 6,607.492kgs of cannabis sativa, 1,778.388kg of psychotropic substances, 451grams cocaine, 125gram of heroin and 277gram of methamphetamine,” he explained.
He further explained that within the period under review, the agency had secured 113 convictions, destroyed five cannabis farms in the state and rehabilitated over 1,844 drug abusers.
This is coming at a time when stakeholders are calling for a complete overhaul of the mandate of the agency.
The NDLEA, established by Decree 48 of 1989 (now CAP N30 LFN 2004) is the government agency charged with eradicating illicit traffic and use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
However, the agency faces an uphill task in dealing with the problem of drug abuse by women especially in the north because, its mandate does not cover cough syrup, the most commonly used substance by these women.
