•As NDLEA intercepts large consignments of drugs in Kaduna, Yobe, Plateau
A man coming from Brazil, Phillip Chikwendu Nworie, and two pregnant women have been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos State, for attempting to import and export illicit drugs through the airport in the last week.
The arrest was confirmed by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, May 8, 2022.
The first suspect caught in the agency’s dragnet, Nworie, was said to have been arrested on Tuesday, May 3, during an inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil enroute Doha to Lagos.
Babafemi said that two parcels of cocaine were discovered concealed in a pair of brown slippers hidden in his ox blood backpack during a thorough search of his luggage, while a further search of the pair of black slippers worn by the suspect also led to the recovery of additional two parcels of cocaine built into the soles of his foot wears, bringing the total to four parcels weighing 800 grammes.
“When undergoing preliminary interview, Nworie, who claimed to be a barber in Sao Paulo, said he came to Nigeria for the burial of his father. He confessed he decided to get into the criminal act because his trip was sponsored by his Brazil-based friend who gave him the drug to deliver in Lagos for a fee of N2 million,” Babafemi disclosed.
Also on Wednesday, May 4, NDLEA operatives at the SAHCO export shed of the airport intercepted some cartons of alcoholic drinks suspected to contain illicit drugs. A freight agent who brought the consignment for export to Dubai, UAE, Shola Ogunrinde, was picked up immediately while a follow-up operation led to the arrest of a pregnant woman, Mrs. Seun Babatunde, who operates an alcohol joint at Pleasure area of Iyana Ipaja.
At the opening of the cartons in the presence of the agent and the pregnant owner, seven parcels of cannabis and a sachet of ecstasy drug (MDMA) were found concealed inside cans of black bullet alcoholic drinks.
In her confession, Mrs. Babatunde claimed the drugs were being sent to her husband who lives in Dubai.
The second pregnant woman, Mrs. Gloria Asibor was arrested on Thursday, May 5, while attempting to board a Turkish Airline flight to Bolonia, Spain via Istanbul, Turkey. A search of her luggage containing food items led to the discovery of 300 tablets of 200mg and 225mg high dosage Tramadol concealed in crayfish.
Meanwhile, large consignments of psychoactive substances were intercepted in parts of North West, North East and North Central, the NDLEA spokesman stated.
In Kaduna State, a drug dealer, Obinna Anene a.k.a Young Alhaji was arrested on Friday, May 6 at Buwaya, Kaduna with 50,000 tablets of Diazepam weighing 9kg; 595 tablets of Tramadol weighing 318 grammes and eight tablets of Co-codamol weighing six grammes.
Same day, a trafficker, Alhaji Modu Yahaya was caught with 26.5kg cannabis in Damaturu, Yobe State while travelling in a commercial vehicle from Abuja to Maiduguri, Borno State.
At least, nine drug dealers were arrested by operatives in Lagos on Thursday, May 5 during raids in black spots in Mushin Olosha and Akala areas, as well as Langbasa and Ikota in Ajah area of the state, with different quantities of Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine, Cannabis, and Skuchies.
The arrested suspects included Kehinde Ilori, Osho Demola Nurudeen, Kamarudeen Isiaka, Kazeem Ishola, Afeez Adebolade, Oguntana Aduragbemi, Chuks Alowai, Mrs. Bola Kazeem and Kehinde Ogunleye.
In Plateau State, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, May 7, intercepted a truck carrying 673.3kg cannabis along Bassa/Rukuba Barracks road in Jos while the driver and his assistant fled into the bush. In other parts of the state capital, two drug dealers, Manga Emmanuel and Yusuf Usman, were arrested with 34 pinches of cocaine and 400 grammes of cannabis at old airport and Rikkos respectively.
Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), who commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Kaduna, Yobe, Lagos and Plateau Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, charged them and those in other commands across the country to sustain the heat on drug cartels as well as balance their efforts in drug supply and demand reduction.
