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Cocaine, Heroin, Skunk at Lagos Airport. NDLEA Arrests 7, 38kg Intercepts Cocaine.
Cocaine, Heroin, Skunk at Lagos Airport. NDLEA Arrests 7, 38kg Intercepts Cocaine.
It was another active week of wits between NDLEA operatives and drug traffickers who attempted to either import into Nigeria or export to the United Kingdom and Italy illicit substances weighing 37.3 kg, all of which were intercepted and recovered in five distinct bids, with seven people arrested.
NewsReport gathered that on May 25, 2021, Mr. Agudozie Peter Ihie attempted to transport 76 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.150kg into Nigeria, but was apprehended during an inbound security check of passengers on Qatar Airlines from Kenya at the E-arrival hall of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
This online information learned that he was found with 36 cocaine pellets hidden in his slacks at the time of his arrest. He excreted an additional 40 pellets while being observed. He admitted to swallowing the medicines in Nairobi during preliminary interrogation, but became uncomfortable during the transit period in Doha and voided some wraps onboard the plane upon the route to Lagos.
Barely two hours after the arrest of Agudozie Peter Ihie for cocaine ingestion, NDLEA operatives at the SAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport also intercepted 4.2 kilograms of heroin bound for Italy. Two freight forwarders have been arrested in connection to the seizure. During a preliminary interview, one of the suspects stated that the consignment belongs to one of his customers based in Italy and that it was sent to him from Benin, Edo state through a transport company.
On the 26th May 2021, during inward security clearance of passengers on Qatar airline from Doha, NDLEA operatives at the E-arrival hall of the airport also 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.
On the same date, NDLEA operatives at the NAHCO export shed of MMIA intercepted 30.150 kg of Cannabis Sativa heading to Manchester in the United Kingdom via British Airways and arrested one Anyanwu Chika who is a cargo bag stitcher in connection to the bid. The drug was neatly concealed inside 30 pieces of bankus palm nut cream tin (Banga soup) after emptying the real content.
In his confessional statement, he admitted to having been contracted by one of his customers based in Manchester and had negotiated with him for the sum of one million naira but was paid only seven hundred thousand nairas.
On Thursday, 3rd of June, 2021, operatives equally intercepted 11 parcels of heroin weighing 1.2kg concealed in eleven packs of Indomie noodles at the SAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport. The drug was to go with Ethiopian Airlines 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.
Reacting to the latest arrests and seizures at the MMIA, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the Commander, Ahmadu Garba, officers and men of the airport Command for their tenacity and commitment to the mandate of ridding the nation of illicit drugs. He charged them to remain unrelenting and always watch out for the disingenuous modes of concealment traffickers employ to beat detection.
