NDLEA nabs businessman for ingesting 90 pellets of cocaine

Intercepts N4.3b opioids at Onne, Tincan ports

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its clampdown on drug trafficking with a series of operations across Nigeria, leading to multiple arrests and seizures of illicit substances.

A 50-year-old businessman, Osuoha Christian Iheanacho, was apprehended at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for ingesting 90 pellets of cocaine.

NDLEA operatives intercepted Osuoha on Wednesday, November 20, during the screening of passengers arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. This followed months of intelligence and surveillance on the suspect.

During excretion observation, Osuoha egested the pellets weighing 2.019 kilogrammes in seven excretions. According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the suspect, who trades in phones and accessories between Lagos and Gabon, travelled by road from Gabon to Douala, Cameroon, before flying to Addis Ababa.

Babafemi revealed that Osuoha swallowed the drugs while in transit, attempting to complicate his travel history. Unknown to him, he had been on the agency’s watchlist for three months.

In his statement, Osuoha admitted to engaging in the drug trade to salvage his declining business. In a separate operation on Thursday, November 21, the head of a cocaine distribution cartel, 42-year-old Ndive Maxwell Obinna, was arrested alongside five associates in Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos. The operation led to the recovery of 2.412 kilogrammes of cocaine.

Other members of the syndicate arrested include Okeke Gloria Ifeoma, identified as the group’s stash keeper, Ikechebelu Emmanuel Chibuzor, Okorie Onyedikachi, Okonkwo Nnabugo Prince, and Okafor Blessing Anita.

The NDLEA also dismantled a drug network run by a Chinese national, Tianzhen Yen (alias Jackie), following his arrest at a hotel in Ikeja, Lagos. Acting on intelligence, operatives intercepted a 40-year-old suspect, Yakubu Emmanuel Mark, at the Gbaji checkpoint on the Badagry-Seme expressway with 750 grammes of cocaine.

A follow-up operation traced the kingpin, Yen, to MC Hotel in Ikeja, where 4.3 grammes of cocaine, a gram of methamphetamine, electronic weighing scales, and other items were recovered.

At the Tincan seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service, uncovered 92 parcels of “Loud,” a synthetic cannabis strain weighing 23.25 kilogrammes. The illicit substance was concealed in a Nissan car and a GMC bus imported from Canada.

In Rivers State, operatives intercepted two containers of opioids during a joint operation at the Port Harcourt Ports complex. The seizures included 168,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N1.1 billion and 4.5 million pills of super royal tramadol 225mg valued at N3.1 billion. The total street value of the recovered substances stands at N4.3 billion .

In Ekiti State, NDLEA arrested a 50-year-old physically challenged woman, Mustapha Boja, with 286 grammes of cannabis variants at Araromi Street, Ikere-Ekiti. Similarly, 64 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa were recovered in Oyo State at Akinyele motor park, Ibadan, on November 21.

In Edo State, operatives seized 1,200.5 kilogrammes of cannabis during raids. At Utese forest in Ovia North East Local Council, 463.5 kilogrammes were recovered, while 507 kilogrammes were found at a compound in Owan village, leading to the arrests of David Ojo Ederin, 60, and Afoje Frank, 24. Another suspect, Godwin Okhoya, 40, was arrested with 230 kilogrammes at Okpuje, Owan West Local Council.

In Kano State, four suspects were arrested on November 19 at Gadar Tamburawa along Zaria-Kano road with 100 blocks of cannabis weighing 45 kilogrammes.

Similarly, Ayuba Umar Zaranda, 55, was apprehended with 124 kilogrammes of cannabis in Bauchi State.