NDLEA Intercepts Brazilian Returnee With 100 Wraps Of Cocaine At Lagos Airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 101 packs of cocaine concealed in eight children's bed duvets at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, the agency spokesperson, said the illicit drug was brought into the country by Akudirinwa Hilary Uchenna, a 52-year-old Brazilian returnee from of Imo state.

“He was arrested on Saturday 9th April at the D-Arrival Hall of the Lagos airport upon his return from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Doha aboard Qatar Airline flight, while the 101 parcels of the class A drug with a gross weight of 13.2 kilogram were recovered from his only check-in bag,” the statement reads.

“During preliminary interview, Uchenna who claimed to be a carpenter confessed that he was to be paid N5million for trafficking the drug after successfully delivering the consignment in Lagos.”

In another development, the agency said it intercepted big pellets of skunk, made from unpollinated cannabis plants, concealed in detergent containers at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

“A 37-year-old South African returnee, Ezekwesili Afamefune brought in the consignment weighing 730grams aboard Ethiopian Airline flight from Johannesburg, South Africa via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Ezekwesili is from Awka south local government area of Anambra state,” it said.

The NDLEA added that it arrested Christian John, an alleged drug dealer in Edo state for selling assorted illicit drugs which include sachets of drugged Milo beverage, cannabis, swinol and tramadol tablets, while it arrested in Chibuzor Uba in Zamfara with 1,955 ampules of pentazocine.

Drug dealers in Akwa Ibom and Ondo were also said to have been apprehended.

Commenting on the arrests and seizures, Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, asked the officers to remain focused and abstain from acts capable of jeopardising the collective goal of ridding Nigeria of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking.