Drug cartel queen, cross-border trafficker arrested in Taraba

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Wednesday said a notorious queen of drug cartel supplying psychoactive substances to traffickers in Taraba state, Lami Mai Rigima, has been arrested, months after being on their wanted list.

A statement by director of Media & Advocacy of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi said the 40-year-old queen of the drug world came under the anti-narcotic agency’s searchlight when a number of traffickers arrested in the state in 2021 and early this year fingered her as their supplier.

The statement said manhunt for Lami paid off Monday when operatives tracked her to her hideout in Iware village in Ardo Kola local government area of Taraba.

The statement reads in part: “The search for Lami began in October 2021 following the arrest, prosecution and conviction of a drug dealer, Abdullahi Madaki, 50. After serving his brief jail sentence, Madaki returned to the illicit trade with Lami still as his supplier. He was however rearrested on 13th February, 2022 while another trafficker, Jamilu Hassan, 20, who is also a member of Lami’s supply chain, was nabbed on 24th Feb.

“In Adamawa, operatives arrested a cross border drug trafficker, Emeka Okiru, 40, with 32,700 tablets of Tramadol 225mg under the brand name: Royal and Tramaking.”