By Ayodele Popoola

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Henry Chukwuneku Okamaru (a.k.a. Lawrence Ik Okamaru) a wanted drug kingpin behind the 2000.6kg Cannabis Sativa seized in a concrete mixer truck in Adamawa State on  December 2 2021, has been arrested in Ondo State.

The arrest of the drug lord is coming after five months of manhunt by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

Two other suspects, Matthew Donuwe and Friday Nmborgwu had earlier been arrested in connection with the consignment last December.

They had confessed that the concrete mixer truck with Lagos marked SMK 890 XB was loaded with the illicit drug in Ogbese, Ondo State, while they travelled for two months on the road before arriving Adamawa where they were eventually arrested by NDLEA operatives.

Investigations revealed that Okamaru is one of the leaders of a cannabis cultivation cartel that operate in the Ondo-Ekiti axis, while he shuttles between Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo and Delta States, where he coordinates supplies of illicit consignments to Northern parts of the country and Lagos State.

The drug lord has also been identified as a member of an international drug trafficking ring, while he shuttles between Nigeria and South Africa where he settles his family.

He is reported to have a strong control and stake in cannabis cultivation in Ondo, Edo, Ekiti, Osun and Oyo States with large storage facilities in Lagos and Abbi in Delta State from where his consignments are distributed year round.