Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have dismantled a major drug cartel responsible for the production and distribution of methamphetamine, known locally as ‘mkpuru mmiri’. The operation culminated in the arrest of the cartel’s leader, 42-year-old Joachin Chikaodi Mbonu, and his associate in a mansion in Umuomi village, Ikeduru local government area of Imo State.
According to Femi Babafemi, spokesperson for the NDLEA, the cartel, with operational bases in Imo and Rivers State, was targeted after intelligence indicated its involvement in distributing large quantities of methamphetamine across the South East, South South, and other regions of the country.
“After weeks of surveillance, officers of a special operations unit of the Agency on Friday, July 5, 2024, tracked and traced the drug lord to his village mansion in Imo State,” Babafemi stated. “He was apprehended along with cartel member Kenneth Chibuike Ofoegbu, 34, with various quantities of methamphetamine, precursor chemicals, a pump-action gun, and cartridges recovered.”
Exhibits seized from the house included 419.99 grams of methamphetamine, 750 grams of iodine (a meth precursor), 500 grams of sodium bicarbonate (a meth precursor), two electronic weighing scales, and a pump-action gun with four cartridges. Additional raids at Mbonu’s hideout in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yielded 750 grams of processed sodium bicarbonate, 170 grams of plain sodium bicarbonate, and 75 grams of methamphetamine.
Further investigations at the home of Mbonu’s associate, Odoemenam Pedro Chinedu, who is currently at large, in Njaba LGA, Imo State, led to the recovery of another pump-action gun with 25 cartridges and other items. While Mbonu remains in custody, two of his mansions in Imo State have been marked for possible forfeiture to the federal government.
