By Adedapo Adesanya
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officers have arrested two women and six men for attempting to import hundreds of cocaine pellets into Nigeria and export thousands of tablets of Tramadol 255mg among other illicit drugs to Europe and Dubai.
According to the NDLEA in its weekly statement, the suspects were apprehended at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja; Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, and Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
According to NDLEA Spokesperson, Mr. Femi Babafemi, the series of arrests and seizures started on Sunday, July 17, 2022, when a 52-year-old father of three, Mr. Okwo Paul Okechukwu was arrested upon arrival from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia via an Ethiopian airline flight to Abuja airport for ingesting 76 cocaine pellets.
During the preliminary interview, the suspect, a native of Enugu Ezike, Igbo Eze LGA, Enugu State, said he was selling women’s wigs and hair accessories before getting into drug dealing .
He excreted 76 envelopes of the drug which he swallowed while under observation at the agency’s premises in Abuja.
In the same vein, another father of three, Mr. Lawrence Chijioke, 42, was arrested at Abuja airport on the same day as part of an operational synergy between the NDLEA and Nigeria Customs Service at the NAIA.
Mr Chijioke, a native of Umuahia in Umuahia LGA, Abia State, was arrested during an arrival clearance of an Ethiopian Airline flight from Addis Ababa with 529 pellets of cocaine weighing 11.70 kg concealed in his bag.
In his statement to anti-narcotics officers, he claimed that he was promised 2 million naira, which he planned to use to expand his business, upon the successful delivery of the cocaine consignment to Abuja.
In addition, on Saturday July 23, NDLEA officers arrested Miss Onuorah Caritas Onyinye, 29, at Enugu airport upon her arrival on an Ethiopian airline flight from Addis Abeba.
A search of her luggage led to the discovery of 2.192 kilograms of cocaine concealed in two designer women’s handbags with fake linings.
The statement further states: “Attempts by drug traffickers to export different illicit drugs through the NAHCO Export Hangar at Lagos Airport to Europe and the UAE have also been thwarted by officers. and the men of the agency.
“On Monday, July 18, officers intercepted illicit substances concealed in a consolidated shipment bound for Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“Apart from 24 packages of Loud, a cannabis variant widely grown in the United States and Canada, other substances recovered from the shipment include a methamphetamine precursor, BMK glycidic acid; tablets of MDMA, a synthetic drug, and five other packets of cannabis.
“No less than four freight agents were arrested in connection with the seizure. They include Balogun Adesola Olamilekan; Sulaimon Kaosarat Yetunde; Benjamin Christophe Joel; and Omoniyi Ibukun Abraham.
“Also on the same day, Monday July 18, an offer by a passenger bound for Italy, Tony Osas, to export 10,250 tablets of Tramadol 255mg to Europe via Lagos airport was foiled. by NDLEA officers who intercepted him at Gate B in the departures hall. clearance of passengers on a Turkish airline flight to Milan.
“During a search of his luggage, Osas who hailed from Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State was found with the illicit substance which weighed 5.70 kg concealed in his chest. inside the gari, a local product made from cassava hidden in her black handbag.”