NDLEA recovers Spain-bound cocaine consignment from businessman’s sandals at Lagos airport

• Nabs Lagos-Ghana tramadol syndicate kingpin
• Intercepts bandits’ supplier in Kaduna, arrests 17 in Osun forest raid

A Spain-based businessman,50-year-old Francis Akajiobi, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the departure hall of terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos. He was arrested after parcels of cocaine weighing 1.20kg were discovered in his pair of sandals while attempting to board his Royal Air Maroc flight to Madrid, Spain.

Spokesperson for the agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement yesterday, said the two parcels of cocaine were concealed in the soles of a pair of black sandals Akajiobi put on for his flight when NDLEA operatives intercepted him on Thursday, July 25, 2024.

During his preliminary interview, he claimed the consignment was delivered to him at a bar in PortHarcourt, Rivers State, and he was to deliver it to his friend and neighbour in Spain for a fee of €5,000 upon successful delivery to the recipient.

In the same vein, a suspect, Makinde Sodiq Lekan, has been arrested in connection with the seizure of 99 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 51.60kg that arrived at the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc (SAHCO) Import shed of the Lagos airport on a Turkish Airlines flight from Canada via Istanbul, Turkey.

Meanwhile, operatives of a Special Operations Unit targeting syndicates that specialise in shipping large consignments of opioids into neighbouring countries from where they attempt smuggling them into Nigeria in smaller quantities through transport companies, have arrested one of the kingpins, Chukwuemaka Obodozie.

He was arrested in the early hours of Sunday, July 21, at Cele Bus Stop, along the Oshodi-Apapa expressway, Lagos, with 100,000 tablets of tramadol (225mg) loaded in two bags shortly after his arrival from Ghana via one of the transport companies plying the Lagos-Ghana route.

The intelligence-led operation followed five months of surveillance around Chukwuemeka. About 17 suspects were arrested on Friday, July 26, when NDLEA operatives raided the Owena forest in Oriade Local Council of Osun State. They destroyed 31,250kg of cannabis on 12.5 hectares of farmland, while 84kg of processed Cannabis sativa was recovered, along with a single-barreled Dane gun.

Those arrested include Peter Osuya, 51; Zebron Ode, 46; Dogo Reuben Matthew, 35; Isaac Terna; Joseph David Lawrence, 27; Ugochukwu Victory, 24; Olamilekan Abolarin, 26; Dele Ayibo, 44; Ojo Moses, 21; Nini Ayila, 27; Msughve Clement, 23; Chuks Ogeneku, 40; Dada Aribo, 20; Uche Endurance, 30; Patrick Agba, 21; Osakwe Kennedy, 45; and Ojo Babatunde, 29.

In Kaduna State, NDLEA operatives on stop-and-search patrol along Kaduna-Zaria highway on Saturday, July 27, intercepted a 32-year-old lady, Ubaida Aliyu, for in possession of 573 rounds of 7.60 live ammunition, which she claimed she was attempting to deliver to bandits in Sokoto.

A suspect, Godwin Udochukwu, 35, was arrested in connection with the seizure of 25,000 ampoules of Pentazocine injection by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Kaduna-Zaria highway. Another suspect, Alkasim Mikailu, 35, was nabbed in Kano on a follow-up operation following the seizure of 37,880 ampoules of Diazepam injection along the Abuja-Kaduna highway.

Two suspects, Abioye Adeniyi, 39, and Rafiu Lekan, 41, were arrested with 55 jumbo wraps of Ghana Loud by NDLEA operatives at Oloko, along Badagry-Seme road, Lagos, on Friday, July 26, while Samson Ifeayi Egwutouhi, 30, was nabbed same day by officers on patrol along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja Expressway with 20 blocks of compressed Cannabis sativa that weighed 10.500kg.

In Bauchi State, two suspects, Suleiman Yahaya, 50, and Ibrahim Bello (a.k.a Special), 35, were on Thursday, July 25, arrested with 315 blocks of Cannabis sativa weighing 204.750kg along Maiduguri by-pass, Bauchi town.