Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted cocaine, heroin and cannabis weighing 37.3kg and arrested seven suspects.
Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, said on Sunday in Abuja that the first attempt to bring into Nigeria 76 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.150kg by Agudozie Peter Ihie on 25 May, 2021, failed as he was arrested during inward security clearance of passengers on Qatar airlines from Kenya, at the E-arrival hall of Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
He said 36 pellets of cocaine were concealed in Ihie’s pants.
“While under observation, he excreted additional 40 pellets. During preliminary interrogation, he confessed to have swallowed the drugs in Nairobi but became pressed during the transit period in Doha and excreted some wraps onboard the aircraft en route Lagos,” Babafemi said.
According to him, barely two hours after the arrest of Ihie over cocaine ingestion, NDLEA operatives at SAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport also intercepted 4.2kg of heroin bound for Italy.
He added that two freight forwarders have been arrested in connection with the seizure.
“During preliminary interview, one of the suspects stated that the consignment belonged to one of his customers based in Italy, and that it was sent to him from Benin, Edo State through a transport company,” he said.
Babafemi further said on May 26, 2021, during inward security clearance of passengers on Qatar airlines from Doha, NDLEA operatives at the E-arrival hall of the airport arrested one Nnakaihe Ikechukwu (a.k.a Peprah Livinus) with 600 grams of cocaine.
“The illicit drug was cleverly concealed inside Ankara dress buttons.
“The suspect, who hails from Imo State, however, fraudulently obtained a Ghanaian passport using Peprah Livinus as his name.
“He is suspected to be a member of some of the illicit drug trafficking groups with multiple passports bearing different names in order to evade detection by security agencies,” Babafemi said.
He added that on the same date, at the NAHCO export shed of MMIA, 30.150 kg of cannabis sativa were intercepted aboard British Airways heading to Manchester in the United Kingdom while one Anyanwu Chika, who is a cargo bag stitcher, was arrested in connection with the drugs.
He said the drug was neatly concealed inside 30 pieces of palm nut cream tin (banga soup) after emptying the real content.
In his confessional statement, Chika admitted to have been contracted by one of his customers based in Manchester and was to be paid N1 million but got only N700,000.
“Also, on Thursday, 3 June, 2021, operatives equally intercepted 11 parcels of heroin weighing 1.2kg concealed in 11 packs of Indomie noodles at SAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport.
“The drug was to go with Ethiopian Airline to Malaysia via Addis-Ababa.
“A freight agent and an errand boy for the owner of the exhibit have been arrested in connection to the foiled bid,” Babafemi added.
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