Airport Attendant Who Allegedly Slipped Drugs Into Passenger’s Luggage In NDLEA Custody
A freight attendant who allegedly ‘slipped’ illicit drugs into the luggage of a passenger at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport is in the custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The agency confirmed the development on Friday, after a video of the incident went viral on Thursday, eliciting reactions from Nigerians across the social media.
The video, captioned, “That’s how a stupid FAAN tried to set us up to smuggle drugs…”, also showed the freight attendant, incoherently conceding to the allegations.
Confirming the incident, spokesperson of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi refuted claims that the accused is a staff of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
“Both the suspect and consignment are with us. The suspect is however not a FAAN personnel but a staff of a freight company.
“One of the two substances in the consignment tested positive to tramadol and the other supplement,” Babafemi said.
The incident has further raised conversations surrounding the authenticity of NDLEA operations and the reports of arrests made at the various airports in the country.
Babafemi further explained that the suspect worked with a Pathfinder freight company, and had only allegedly approached the passenger for assistance to convey the illicit substance to his direction of travel.
He said, “The man who posted the information, abinitio, posted the wrong information. He said they found cocaine in his bag, which is not true.
“That guy works with a freight company, called The Pathfinder, and he obviously gained access into the airport through his airport tag, otherwise he should have been detected at the entrance.
“But what they do is, they come to the checkpoint to look for who is going to their direction to give a parcel to for delivery to another person to another end.
“So, it wasn’t as if he slipped something into his bag, he approached him and gave him a consignment and it has not even gotten to the screening side at all. If you look at that area, you will see that that was the outer screening area where you check in…
“That was when the guy asked him what was inside the parcel.”
The NDLEA spokesperson, Babafemi, noted that further investigation was ongoing and reiterated the agency’s call for caution when receiving parcels for third party delivery, from known and unknown persons.
“This is why we educate people to be alert. Do not accept anything from anybody. If you must, make sure you search everything,” Babafemi added.