The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), yesterday, said a 55-year-old man, Kouassi Jean Paul, also known as Eze Ikechukwu, had swallowed 80 wraps of methamphetamine.
He was among 64 drug suspects arrested by the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) command of the agency.
The NDLEA commander, Mr. Garba Ahmadu, who briefed newsmen at MMIA, yesterday, disclosed that Paul was arrested on June 10 during the outward clearance of passengers for an Ethiopian Airline flight to Jakarta, Indonesia.
He said based on suspicion that he ingested 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 the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) from the Nigerian Air Force Clinic at the airport.
“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,” Ahmadu added.
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.
He said 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.
Of the 64 drug suspects arrested by the NDLEA from January to August, 55 are males while nine of them are females.
The agency also said it made 54 seizures within the same period. 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, 20.360kg of cocaine; 15.040kg of Heroin; 112.242kg of cannabis sativa; 84.920kg of methamphetamine and 28.140kg of ephedrine were seized.
