NDLEA foils plan to use headmistress as drug courier

THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday said it has foiled a plan by a 30-year-old man to smuggle cannabis into Dubai in a luggage of a headmistress.

  The NDLEA Commander at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, Mr. Hamza Umar, said the suspect, in his confessional statement, claimed to have given the drug, weighing 130 grammes and hidden inside a known local alcoholic beverage, Alomo Bitters, to the headmistress in error for onward delivery to his brother in Dubai.

  “As soon as the drug was detected, we conducted a follow-up raid operation that led to the arrest of the main suspect who owned up to the crime and the case is being investigated for subsequent prosecution”, Hamza stated.

  Besides, the NDLEA’s Head, Public Affairs, Ofoyeju Mitchell, in a statement quoted the suspect who hails from Imo State and claimed to be a 2008 graduate of Physics from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, as saying: “I personally concealed the cannabis inside one of the bottles of Alomo Bitters. The original plan was to send the drug to my brother in Dubai through a friend but the consignment was given to the headmistress in error. When I was told that the goods were given to the headmistress, I was greatly disturbed. It was a great mistake that she was given the consignment that contained the drug.”

  Meanwhile, the Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, commended the officers for the swift intervention that led to the arrest of the main suspect. 

  He said: “NDLEA will leave no stone unturned in frustrating the devices of drug traffickers. We have institutionalised a culture of follow-up operation to enrich investigation activities. Drug traffickers must pay for their evil acts. I commend the officers for the swift and painstaking investigation that led to the arrest of the main suspect. All arrangement has been completed for him to face criminal prosecution.”