NDLEA arrests drug kingpin behind fake couple carrying cocaine, others
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), has arrested one Ngene Emmanuel Onyedikachi, the mastermind behind a fake couple, Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum arrested at Lagos airport in August for ingesting 1.822kg and 1.50kg of cocaine respectively on their way to India.
A statement signed by the Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, states that the kingpin was picked at his residence, located at 28 Afolabi Brown Street, Akoka, Yaba, after an intensive surveillance that lasted 25 days.
“During his interview, Onyedikachi confessed that the two suspects: Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum, were introduced to him by another member of his syndicate, who he claimed he met at Zion Church in the Cele area of Lagos. He explained that the drug was sourced from Guinea Conakry.
“The suspect revealed that when he got information about the arrest of the fake couple, he threw away his old mobile phone along with the SIM cards to avoid being traced, adding that he became relaxed and refused to leave his house because the two couriers do not know his house since they have only met twice at different locations.”
The agency has also announced the seizures of various quantities of ephedrine, skunk and nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas consignments concealed in Semovita packs and dry pepper, being shipped to South Africa and Kenya at Lagos International Airport.
Notorious drug trafficker, Suleiman Babatunde Oba, who is a member of a cartel distributing Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine and Ephedrine between Nigeria, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mozambique, and Europe, was arrested while attempting to board a Rwanda Air flight to South Africa with two boxes loaded with ephedrine sealed in Semovita packs.
“The recovered substance is a precursor chemical and active ingredient in the production of methamphetamine” NDLEA said.
“In his statement, Suleiman, who holds a South African passport, is married to a South African lady and has lived there for over 20 years, identified Hakeem Babatunde Salami, who equally lives in Lagos and South Africa, as the head of the drug ring.
“A follow-up raid in the house of Salami, located at 75 Wosilatu Dawodu Street, Ijesha, Aguda area of Surulere, Lagos on Monday 28th, revealed that he had fled the country on the same day Suleiman was arrested. However, a white Toyota Venza car with registration number LSR 410 HT, a Mercedes Benz SUV marked LSD 998HP, phones and vital documents needed for further investigation were recovered from the house.
‘In the same vein, an attempt by another syndicate to export 10.40kg skunk concealed with scent leaf and pepper, going to Nairobi, Kenya, was equally thwarted by NDLEA operatives attached to the NAHCO export shed of the airport,” the statement reads.
Relatedly, an attempt by another syndicate to export 10.40kg skunk concealed with scent leaf and pepper, going to Nairobi, Kenya, was equally thwarted by NDLEA operatives attached to the NAHCO export shed of Lagos airport and a suspect, Ekechukwu Sixtus Ndubuisi, has already been arrested in connection with the seizure.
Another export consignment of 180 cannisters of laughing gas to South Africa by a freight agent, Oyekola Gbenga Akeem, for a fee of Two Million Naira (N2, 000, 000) was also frustrated by operatives who seized the cargo and arrested the suspect.
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