The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has curtailed efforts by members of an international drug syndicate operating between Brazil, Ethiopia and Nigeria to smuggle into Nigeria 845 wraps of cocaine weighing 18.72 kilogrammes through Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
According to the agency, the drug consignments worth about N4.5 billion in street value, were recovered from two lavatories of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft during the post landing cleaning of the cabin of flight ET900 from Addis Ababa to Lagos last Tuesday.
A statement issued on Sunday by the anti-drug agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, indicated that the illicit drug consignments were wrapped in nine polythene bags and hidden in the waste collectors in the two rear lavatories of the aircraft, from where they were recovered after the MMIA Strategic Command of NDLEA was alerted about the strange objects.
According to him, no fewer than 30 suspects have so far been grilled in connection with the seizure.
Babafemi said investigations showed that the seized drugs were conveyed from Brazil to Ethiopia through ingestion and excreted in Addis Ababa by a set of couriers while some other traffickers picked them up and attempted to smuggle them into Nigeria through the Lagos Airport before their attempt was frustrated with the cooperation of the airline’s authorities and other security agencies
He recalled that attempts by some drug trafficking syndicates to export 2.93 kilogrammes cocaine, cannabis and tramadol 225mg concealed in body cream containers, and pieces of artwork to Australia, United Arab Emirate and United Kingdom through some courier companies in Lagos were also blocked by NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) last Monday.
The agency’s spokesman also disclosed that at the Apapa seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives last Tuesday intercepted 754,000 pills of tapentadol and acetaminophen 225mg worth N525 million in a targeted and watch-listed container from India during a joint examination with men of Customs Service and other security agencies.
Similarly, he stated that in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a suspect, Mujahid Hamisu, 24, was arrested with 147,000 pills of tramadol concealed in black nylon bags containing plumbing materials along Kwali-Gwagwalada-Abuja expressway on his way from Onitsha, Anambra state on Saturday while another suspect Seun Abimbola, 47, was nabbed by the agency’s operatives same day with 512 grammes of methamphetamine during a raid operation at Giri junction area of the FCT.
Babafemi also confirmed that in Kogi state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Kabba- Obajana highway arrested Mercy Ameh, 28, in a commercial bus travelling from Lagos to Abuja while a search of her luggage led to the recovery of fake Naira notes worth over N4.3 million, while another suspect, Shaibu Dahiru, 27, was nabbed in a vehicle coming from Lagos to Katsina along Lokoja- Okene- Abuja road last Thursday with 68 blocks of cannabis weighing 27.4 kilogrammes.
He also confirmed the agency’s arrest of suspected drug traffickers during the week in other locations in the country, including Katsina State, Jimeta in Borno State, Jalingo in Taraba State, NDA Bus Stop, Kaduna, Ogbese in Ondo State, and Ekiadolor in Edo State, among others.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), while commending the officers and men of the Command nationwide on the arrests and seizures of the past week, also lauded the officers for intensifying the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization lectures and advocacy campaigns to curb drug abuses nationwide.
