Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two businessmen; Ihejirika Okechukwu Emmanuel and Iwuagwu Ikedi Victory for attempting to import and export cocaine pellets and parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
NDLEA also apprehended a Canada-based nurse Usman Grace Khadijat in the same operation at the MMIA.
The Director, Media & Advocacy of the Agency, Mr. Femi Babafemi disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday, October 20, 2024.
According to the statement, Ihejirika, who frequents Thailand from where he claims to be importing fish into Nigeria was arrested on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Thailand via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“When he was taken for body scan, the result showed he ingested illicit drug which proved to be cocaine. As a result, he was placed under excretion observation during which he expelled five big egg size wraps of cocaine weighing 400grams.
“In his statement, the 51-year-old suspect confessed that he was to be paid upon successful delivery of the drug consignment in Thailand. He said he needed the money to boost his fish importation business,” the statement noted.
Mr. Babafemi revealed that Victory, 26, was intercepted while coming from Brazil via Addis Ababa during the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight.
He explained that Victory’s body scan revealed ingestion of illicit drug, and when he was put under observation, he excreted a pellet of cocaine weighing 22 grams.
“He, however, confessed that he ingested 30 wraps of the illicit drug in Brazil but excreted 29 pellets in Addis Ababa, where he handed them over to another person. The suspect revealed that he was to be paid N2.5 million for trafficking the drug.”
However, Nurse Khadijat was nabbed by NDLEA officers on October 4 at the Lagos Airport during the inward clearance of Air France passengers from Toronto, Canada via Paris.
Upon searching her luggage, a total of 70 parcels of Canadian Loud, weighing 35.70kg were recovered from her.
“During her interview, she claimed she was in Nigeria to meet her boyfriend who instructed her to come with the large consignment of the highly sought-after synthetic cannabis.”
The statement added: “At the seaports, while a total of 162,351 bottles of codeine based syrup were intercepted from two containers at the Apapa seaport in Lagos by NDLEA operatives during a joint examination of two containers with men of the Customs Service and other security agencies on Tuesday 15th October, not less than Seven Million Two Hundred Thousand (7,200,000) pills of Royal 225mg Tapentadol and Carisoprodol worth Three Billion Six Hundred Million Naira (N3,600,000,000) in street value were seized from a watch-listed container from India at Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state on Tuesday 15th October.
“In the same container, 780 cartons of chlorphenamine containing Fifteen Million Six Hundred Thousand (15,600,000) pills of the opioid, were also recovered. From two other watch-listed containers equally searched at the port in Onne, a total of 337,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth Two Billion Three Hundred and Fifty-Nine Million Naira (N2,359,000,000) were recovered from them on Tuesday 15th and Thursday 17th October.
“This brings the total value of the seized Tapentadol, Carisoprodol and Codeine consignments at the two seaports to Seven Billion Ninety-Five Million Four Hundred and Fifty-Seven Thousand Naira (N7,095,457,000).”
Elsewhere (Bauchi State), a suspect Sunday Jonathan Ogenyi, 33, was arrested along Bauchi-Jos road with 76,600 pills of tramadol concealed in false compartments of his Toyota Sienna vehicle marked Enugu JRV 341 ZY, while NDLEA operatives in Ondo State on Tuesday, October 15, arrested three suspects; Goddey Obizuo, Samuel Aniete, and Kuffrey Aniete, at Afo village where 672kg cannabis sativa was seized from them.
“A raid at Illushi forest in Esan South East LGA, Edo State led to the destruction of 10,590.36kg cannabis spread on 4.236144 hectares of farmland. Suspects arrested during the operation include: Benson Upuoni, 65; and Sunday Nwaeboyi, 35.
“In Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday 15th October arrested Andrew Joseph Anoriode with 3kg methamphetamine and 1.90kg cannabis along Lagos – Ibadan expressway, while 241kg of same substance was recovered at Gbaji, Badagry area of the state.
“A suspected meth cook, Agbeiboh Oscar, was nabbed same Tuesday at Abule Osun with 265grams of methamphetamine and different quantities of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of methamphetamine and others,” the anti-narcotics agency further said.
Similarly, the Commands and formations of NDLEA across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.
The activities include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Ansarudeen Senior High School, Saki, Oyo State; Government Secondary School, Hayin Gwarmai, Bebeji LGA, Kano, and Margaret Ekpo Secondary School, Calabar, Cross River.
Others are Agbaju Unuhu Community Secondary School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; and WADA advocacy visit to the Emir of Lafiagi, Alhaji Muhammad Kawu Kudu, Kwara State.
Reacting to the arrests and seizures, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA , Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa commended the officers and men of MMIA, PHPC, Apapa, Lagos, Bauchi, Ondo, and Edo Commands for their operational successes.
Gen. Marwa stressed that their strategic accomplishments and those of their compatriots across the country, especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated.
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