A family of five was recently arrested in Barra, after they reportedly assaulted officers of the National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDEA) attached in Barra, during a raid in their compound, an official of the agency has confirmed.
ASP Modou Jobe, officer commanding prosecution and acting Public Relations Officer of the NDEA, told journalists yesterday at the NDEA office in Banjul that it all happened when officers of the NDEA received a tip off about one Ebou Njie, a suspected drug trafficker in the area.
‘‘When the officers went to conduct a search in the compound, they found in his possession 17 raps of suspected cannabis,’’ PRO Jobe revealed.
However, he added, in their attempt to effect arrest on the suspect, Ebou Njie, a fight ensued between the officers and the family members of the suspect, including his mother, wife and sisters.
Jobe stated that as a result of the seriousness of the fight, the windscreen of the NDEA vehicle was smashed and an officer of the NDEA was bitten.
He further stated that currently one Sainabou Jatta, mother, Ndey Joof, wife, Mama Bobb and Marie Corr, sisters of the suspect and the suspect himself, are all detained and will soon be charged and taken to court.
In a separate but related development, officers of the NDEA recently arrested one Sulayman Saidy in Siffoe after he was caught with 8 bundles of suspected cannabis weighing 8kg 840 grams.
According to the NDEA mouthpiece, the suspect was arrested by officers of the NDEA/PIU who were on foot patrol when they saw the suspected on a motorbike coming towards their direction.
‘‘At a distance, the suspect stopped at a bridge and tried to cross the river, but the officers confronted him and identified themselves as NDEA officers and a search was conducted on him, which led to the discovery of 8 big bundles of suspected cannabis,’’ he said, adding that the suspect was arrested and taken to Siffoe Police Station, where he was cautioned, charged and detained.
PRO Jobe used the occasion to reiterate his call for people, especially the youths, to desist from drug trafficking, noting that the NDEA will continue to do all it can to ensure that Gambia is a drug-free state.
