At least 50 suspected members of various notorious criminal gangs and networks across the country have been arrested by the Nigeria Police Force.

The arrests, which were carried out by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team and the Special Tactical Squad of the Force attached to the Operation Puff Adder II, recovered from the suspects 10 firearms, 2,496 AK47 live ammunition, 10 live cartridges, cartons of Tramadol worth over N3 million, a substance suspected to be Indian hemp, two laptop computers and eight mobile phones.

A statement on Tuesday, by the Force spokesman Frank Mba, said one Danjuma Dachung, a 30-year-old native of Ryom, Plateau State and Markus Danladi, were intercepted in Kachia, Kaduna State, conveying 1,565 AK47 ammunition in a Volkswagen Golf 3 Car, PUNCH reports.

It said, “Investigations by the police team revealed that the suspects are members of a major ammunition supply syndicate that supplies ammunition from Jos to bandits in their various camps/hideouts in forests in Kaduna State.

“Further investigations led to the arrest of one Suleiman Tukur, 55yrs old, and his son, Shuaibu Suleiman, 18yrs on 9th March, 2021 who are relatives of a notorious gang leader who was to receive the ammunition conveyed by Dachung and Danladi. Two Hundred and thirty-one AK47 live ammunition were recovered at their residence in Karabi, Kaduna State.”

The police team also arrested two suspects, Daniel Baba, 28yrs and one Andrew Gbagi, 30yrs, both from Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, for gun-running.

The suspects were reportedly arrested at the point of brokering a gun sales deal in the Kwali area of the FCT.

Police investigations revealed that the suspects specialised in selling all calibre of firearms to armed robbers and kidnappers in the FCT and its environs.

They were said to have carried out armed robbery operations in Paiko, Dobbi, Kwali, Gwagwalada and Abaji communities in the FCT.

The statement said investigation was being intensified to locate their armoury, sponsors and other members of the gang at large.