The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 44-year-old man, Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka, at the Port Harcourt International Airport for ingesting 53 wraps of cocaine while en route to Tehran Khomeini, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Chukwuebuka was apprehended on Saturday, June 7, as he attempted to board Qatar Airways flight QR1434 to Tehran via Doha. A body scan confirmed he had ingested the drugs, leading to his placement under excretion observation. He expelled the 53 wraps in six excretions, totalling 1.172kg.
The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, revealed in a statement that the suspect admitted to being involved in the drug trade for two years, operating between the West African sub-region and Iran.
This arrest follows a similar incident two weeks earlier when NDLEA operatives at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport intercepted 60-year-old Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, a businessman, who had ingested 65 pellets of cocaine while attempting to travel to Iran.
In another operation at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, NDLEA officers, in collaboration with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Aviation Security, arrested Edobor Ambrose Ali, an Italy-bound passenger on an Air France flight, on Saturday, June 14.
Baggage scanning revealed 14,410 tramadol pills concealed in winter jackets. Ali confessed to being recruited in Italy and sent on an all-expenses-paid trip to Nigeria to courier the drugs to Milan for a fee of €2,000.
At the Port Harcourt Ports in Onne, Rivers State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a shipment of 157,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup valued at over N1.1 billion. The opioids were hidden behind 257 cartons of ceramic sanitary wares. Three suspects, Friday Achibong Joseph, 47; Abraham Anthony Willy, 21; and Utibe David Okon, 24, were arrested during the operation.
In a separate operation in Cross River State, NDLEA officers raided a warehouse in Obereakai, Odukpani Local Council, recovering 2,687kg of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis.
Additionally, two men, Iriemi Imonikhe, 49, and Sa’idu Ladan, 30, were arrested along the Bauchi-Jos road in Bauchi State. Officers discovered 195 blocks of skunk weighing 287kg in their Toyota Camry.
In Lagos, the Marine Command of NDLEA seized 14 jumbo sacks of skunk weighing 560kg from a wooden boat at Oniru beach. On Thursday, June 12, two businessmen, Ishaku Abdullahi, 30, and Buba Usman, 32, were apprehended at the arrival hall of the domestic wing of Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, Maiduguri, with quantities of ecstasy pills and skunk wrapped and labelled as “Lychee” and “Porro Legal.”
Meanwhile, NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse social advocacy campaign continued nationwide, with sensitisation lectures held at schools such as Command Secondary School in Orba, Enugu; Divine Gift International School, Abakaliki; Baptist Primary School, Ago-Are, Oyo State; and St. Vincent Secondary School, Oti-Oron, Akwa Ibom State.
