The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the arrest of a 48-year-old Paris-bound businessman, Emmanuel Okechuku Orjinze, for ingesting 111 wraps of cocaine.
Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA Headquarters in Abuja, revealed in a Sunday statement that Orjinze excreted the substance after several days of observation in the agency’s custody following his arrest at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja.
According to the statement, Okechukwu, who claimed he was a professional footballer in Europe, was arrested on Tuesday, May 21, during the outward clearance of Air France flight AF 878 from Abuja to Paris, France.
“After a body scan confirmed he ingested illicit drugs, he was taken into custody where he excreted a total of 111 pellets of cocaine that weighed 1.603 kilograms over a period of three days. The suspect claimed he does business in the maritime sector while still scouting for any European football club to engage him,” Babafemi stated.
In the same vein, NDLEA officers operating at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos, dismantled another drug trafficking syndicate at the airport. Babafemi reported that this followed the arrest of four members of the network and the seizure of a total of 8kg of methamphetamine and 7.60kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from South Africa.
The breakthrough came when an official within the airport system was intercepted with a backpack and a bag at the departure hall of Terminal 1 by NDLEA officers, with the support of Aviation Security officers, on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. A search of the bags led to the discovery of the illicit substances.
“A swift follow-up operation at Ajao Estate area of Lagos led to the arrest of two other members of the syndicate: Chris Nwadozie and Chinedu Nwaosu. Further investigation led to the arrest of another member of the cartel working within the airport system on Saturday, May 25,” Babafemi said.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives at the NAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport arrested a freight agent, Sonubi Mariam Abiodun, over her attempt to cargo eight parcels of cocaine weighing 2kg, concealed in three out of six paint buckets containing shea butter, packaged for export to the United Kingdom on Wednesday, May 22.
The statement further detailed, “In another part of Lagos, precisely at Igbo Elerin in Ojo local government area, NDLEA officers on Tuesday, May 21, arrested a suspect, Odumegwu Obijofor, for producing and distributing skuchies, a mixture of black currant and illicit drugs. No fewer than 2,480 litres of the New Psychoactive Substance, NPS, were recovered from his clandestine factory when he was arrested.
In Cross River State, while Ogar Emmanuel was arrested with 2.5kg of cannabis at Ukpada Utugwan village, 29 sacks of the same substance weighing 290kg were recovered from the warehouse of another suspect, Usani Ikpi, who is currently at large. Three suspects: Sa’adu Sule, 23; Mukhtar Nura, 23; and Hamza Nura, 18, were nabbed at Jabiri Funtua, Katsina state on Friday, May 24, with 129 blocks of cannabis weighing 70kg coming from Ogere, Ogun State.
“No fewer than five suspects including Ezekiel Munda, 30; and Sule Mustapha, 21, were arrested by NDLEA operatives on Thursday, May 23, during raids at Karu Abattoir, Jikwoyi, and Tora Bora hill area of FCT, Abuja, where 95.01kg of cannabis and different quantities of opioids were recovered from them.”
Babafemi also mentioned that in Edo State, operatives arrested a person with disability and notorious drug dealer, Zekere Sufianu, 45, at Auchi town on Wednesday, May 22. At the time of his arrest, Sufianu was found with 751 grams of Loud, 178 grams of tramadol, and pills of swinol.
“In like manner, the various commands of the Agency across the country continued with the War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaign in the past week. Some of them include WADA sensitisation lectures for students and teachers of Baptist Grammar School, Iresi, Osun; students and teachers of Anwar-Ul-Islam Grammar School, Eleyele, Ibadan, Oyo State; students of Shalom Secondary School, Saminaka, Kaduna; students of Government Day Secondary School, Gandu, Gombe; students of Pakoto Senior High School, Ifo, Ogun state; students of Nwafor-Orizu Demonstration Secondary School, Awka, Anambra; and Muslim faithful at Central Mosque, Abudu, Orhionmwon LGA, Edo State.
“While commending the officers and men of the NAIA, MMIA, FCT, Lagos, Cross River, Katsina, and Edo Commands of the Agency for their outstanding feats in the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) equally applauded their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying their WADA advocacy lectures,” the statement read.
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