The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said on Friday that it arrested 8, 257 suspected drug traffickers and seized 263,947.57kg of illicit drugs nationwide in 2016.
The NDLEA Chairman, Mr Muhammad Abdallah, disclosed this at a news conference to mark the "International Day against Drugs and Illicit Trafficking'' in Abuja.
Abdallah said arrested suspects comprise 7,720 males and 537 females.
He said that the number of arrests and seizures, when compared with 2015, 2016 figures, recorded a marginal decline.
He added that "in 2015, we arrested 8,778 suspected drug traffickers consisting of 8,143 males and 635 females and 903,624kg of drugs was seized from them.
"This reduction was due to updated strategies adopted by the Agency in preventing cannabis cultivation as cannabis seizure alone was 2015 was 871, 480kg,'' he explained.
Abdallah noted that the number of cases so far delivered in favour of the agency had increased by 559 from 1,690 in 2015 to 2,249 in 2016.
He, however, solicited the support of the society, noting that the agency alone could not fight against drug trafficking.
He urged families, schools, religious organisations and other stakeholders in various communities across the country to work as a team to control the use of illicit drugs.
