By Olimatou Coker
Ousman Saidybah, public relations officer of DLEAG, has said that West Coast Region registered the highest number of drug cases and accounts for the biggest chunk of the seizures.
Mr. Saidybah made these remarks recently during a monthly situation report on drug cases registered from raids conducted by the agency.
“DLEAG’s West Coast Regional Command registered twenty-one (21) cases involving twenty-six (26) suspects including an Alleged Child Offender (ACO). They also seized forty-two (42) bundles of cannabis sativa, one hundred and thirty-six (136) parcels, and two hundred and forty-four (244) wraps of suspected cannabis sativa. In the same vein, the regional command also discovered a cannabis cultivation site in Brusubi and equally seized a plant of cannabis sativa from another suspect in Sukuta. The other types of drugs seized by DLEAG’s West Coast Regional Command included sixty-one (61) stones of hashish, forty (40) tablets of clonazepam, a controlled drug, and thirteen (13) stones of cocaine,” he said.
He stated that from the reporting period, being the 1st to 30th September 2021, the agency registered a total number of forty-three (43) cases involving fifty-one (51) suspects. Operatives seized sixty (60) big bundles, two hundred and fourteen (214) parcels and six hundred (600) wraps of suspected cannabis sativa. Similarly, a cannabis cultivation site was also discovered at Brusubi, West Coast Region, and Sutukoba village in the Upper River Region, respectively. Operatives also seized some quantities and a cannabis plant from another suspect in Sukuta, West Coast Region.
According to him, in Sutukoba village, Upper River Region, operatives apprehended a suspect who was using his bathroom to cultivate cannabis sativa. He has been arrested with four (4) big bundles and six (6) plants of suspected Cannabis Sativa.
He added that DLEAG’s Banjul Command equally arrested one person with four (4) parcels of suspected Cannabis Sativa shipped from the United States of America. The said suspected cannabis sativa was wrapped in a black nylon bag, wrapped in cloths, and then concealed in a cartoon.
DLEAG’s PRO called on the populace to join the bandwagon in the crusade against drugs. “Recent discoveries and trends indicate that despite the giant strides, traffickers and dealers are not relenting on their nefarious activities. They are adamant and hell-bent on flooding our communities with their illicit products. The primary victims are the youth who are the creams of our society and future leaders. We must therefore heighten our surveillance mechanisms and strengthen our resolve to ensure that we bridle drugs and associated menace from our communities”, he said.
