One of the suspects, Hamed Musa 25 is from the crisis ridden town of Bama, Borno, Maiduguri state and the other Sunday Samuel 23, Ebonyi state.
The arrest was part of the ministry's anti encroachers exercise, meant to rid its forest reserves of indian hemp cultivators.
Handing over the suspects and the 16 bags of Indian hemp to the officials of NDLEA in Akure yesterday, the Commissioner in the Ministry, Barrister Tunde Atere said they were arrested in Owo reserve at about 12 midnight.
Atere said that the 14 cultivators were already in police custody undergoing interrogation.
He expressed the readiness of the Ministry to rid its reserves in Ala, Ose and Owo of the illegal activities of Indian hemp cultivators.
The Commissioner noted that the suspects were arrested in collaboration with a Joint Task Force set up by the Ministry.
According to him, it took the officials over seven hours in the thick forest to arrest the suspects.
Atere noted that three other suspects were arrested last year in Ala forest reserve with 95 bags of Indian hemp and had been handed over to NDLEA officials for investigation and prosecution.
The Commissioner, however, denied that officials of his ministry aid and abet suspects to cultivate indian hemp in its forest reserves.
Atere described the outburst credited to a top official of NDLEA as disheartening and unfortunate noting that all suspects arrested by the officials of the Ministry had always been handed over to the agency for prosecution.
The Agency's Assistant Commander, operations and intelligence Olorunfemi Agboalu who the suspects and substances were handed over to, promised that the suspects would be charged to court after preliminary investigation.
Agboalu said the agency was out to bring to book all economic saboteurs, adding that criminals should relocate from the state in their own interest.
