The Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested 64 drug suspects made up of 55 males and nine females and made 54 seizures from January to August 2019.
Among the suspects was a 55-year old man, Kouassi Jean Paul also known as Eze Ikechukwu who swallowed 80 wraps of methamphetamine, according to the NDLEA Commander, Garba Ahmadu.
The commander who briefed newsmen at the MMIA disclosed that Paul was arrested on June 10, 2019 during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airline flight to Jakarta, Indonesia.
He said based on suspicion that he injected some substances, he was subjected to examination and tested positive and was subsequently kept for observation to enable him excrete the substances.
He said after he was taken to the hospital and administered some medication, he freely excreted 79 wraps of methamphetamine while one got stuck in his stomach.
The suspect was then referred to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) from the Nigerian Air Force Clinic at the airport.
The Commander said: “On June 18, 2019 CT scan was carried out on the suspect at LASUTH. The suspect was examined by a team of top medical specialists at LASUTH who recommended an advance scan and on June 26, 2019, the advance body scan called Endoscopy was carried out at AFRIGLOBAL MEDICARE Diagnostic Centre in Ikeja.
“Surgical operation was carried out on the suspect by a team of top medical professionals at LASUTH on June 27, 2019 and the remaining one wrap trapped in his system was extracted while he was discharged on July 15, 2019.”
He said the suspect was lucky because there were few instances in the past when suspects who swallowed drugs died of complication during operation.
The suspect who is expected to be arraigned in court this week in a chat with our correspondent said he was a trader at Alaba International Market, adding that he got involved in drugs because of hardship.
According to him, he never knew he was embarking on a dangerous adventure. He therefore advised other Nigerians who might be planning the same path to think twice.
The breakdown of the eight-month seizures indicated that 260.202 kilogrammes of drugs comprising cocaine, heroin, cannabis sativa (hemp), methamphetamine and ephedrine, were intercepted.
According to the summary made available to our correspondent, 20.360 kg of cocaine were seized; heroin (15.040); cannabis sativa (112.242); methamphetamine (84.920) and ephedrine (28.140).
