The Nigerian government said the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, incinerated the N194bn worth of cocaine it seized from a drug racket because government is not a drug dealer. To that extent, the substance had no economic value to the country.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, explained this to State House Correspondents shortly after the weekly Council meeting chaired by President General Muhammadu.
Malami argued that although a small portion of the substance was retained as court evidence, the majority were set on fire because the government could not find any other legal use for it.
NDLEA recently made the highest singular cocaine seizure in the country’s history when it seized 1,855 kilograms of cocaine (worth N194bn) from an Ikorodu warehouse in Lagos and arresting of five persons in the process.
The warehouse was raided, Sunday, September 18, 2022, while the barons were picked from hotels and their hideouts in various parts of Lagos between Sunday night and Monday, September 19.
On Tuesday, the NDLEA tweeted a video showing the seized drugs being set ablaze.
On why the agency resorted to burning especially when the cocaine could serve as an exhibit in court, the AGF said “they were burnt because we are not drug dealers, our obligation is to ensure that they are eliminated and stopped from circulating in the system. There should be evidence and the evidence are there, accordingly profiled before being destroyed.”
According to him, not all the cargo was destroyed and the government cannot exchange cocaine for cash as that would also mean trading drugs.
He said, “Even the Chairman mentioned it, they retained a little to use in court, but destroyed most of it and was witnessed by the people that carried it. It was also in the news that was carried.
“Most of it was destroyed and I think somebody was saying why should they destroy something worth N194b, but if the government were to start trading that, we’ll become drug dealers as well. We cannot derive an economic benefit from it, but to destroy it, because you don’t want drugs circulating,” the AGF explained.