From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Brazilian returnee, Igwedum Uche Benson, at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, with pellets of cocaine concealed in his private part.
Igwedum was nabbed at the Lagos airport on Monday, June 20, upon his arrival on Ethiopian Airlines from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa.
Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, in a statement, yesterday, said preliminary investigations revealed the suspect had swallowed 50 wraps of cocaine before departing Brazil and excreted 48 pellets in Addis Ababa, where he handed them over to another person.
He, however, claimed he was unable to excrete the remaining two wraps at the hotel room in Addis Ababa before boarding his flight, but later excreted them in the aircraft restroom during the flight from Ethiopia to Lagos.
In the same vein, after three weeks of painstaking investigation and tracking, operatives of the MMIA command of NDLEA, on Saturday night, arrested a drug kingpin, Onyekachi Chukwuma Macdonald, who was behind attempts to export 40 parcels of methamphetamine, popularly called Mkpuru Mmiri locally, to London, United Kingdom, through the NAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport.
Onyekachi was arrested at Manacola Estate, in the Alakuko area of Lagos, at the weekend, three weeks after his mkpuru mmiri consignment weighing 2.05kilograms was intercepted at the airport, and his freight agent, Peter Christopher Anikan, arrested on June 7.
During his interview, the suspect said he’s from Ahiazu, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo state, and had lived in Dubai, UAE, for 10 years before returning to Nigeria in 2019. He stated that after his return to Nigeria, he opened a phone accessories shop in Sango Otta, Ogun state, but the business collapsed. He then started sending cigarettes to London and decided to conceal the illicit drug in the consignment, after advice by a friend.
Closely related is the seizure of another consignment of two kilogram of mkpuru mmiri, at a courier house in Owerri, Imo state.
The cargo seized last Wednesday had ankara and lace fabrics in which two cylindrical cellophanes containing the drug heading to Hong Kong were concealed.
Also, at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives last Friday, intercepted 500,000 tablets of tramadol 225mg packed in 10 cartons and labelled tramaking imported from Karachi, Pakistan, on Emirates Airline. The consignment weighing 407.60kg was seized during a joint examination with Customs and NAFDAC officials.
Same day, a Dubai, UAE-bound passenger, Alegbeleye Taiwo, was arrested at the Departure Hall of the MMIA with 40 ampoules of pentazocine injection. The 21-year-old suspect claimed he’s from Osun state.
Meanwhile, two kingpins behind the importation of two recent drug consignments from Canada, concealed in vehicle containers, through the Tincan seaport in Apapa, Lagos, have been arrested by NDLEA operatives.
One of them, Gboyega Ayoola Elegbeji, was arrested at his house, 14, Bakare Street, Idi Araba, Lagos, last Wednesday, for importing a 40ft container TRHU7874497, containing 33 parcels of cannabis indica (Colorado), weighing16.5kg.
The second suspect, Sunday Joe Oyebola, (aka Otunba) was arrested last Thursday. He’s linked to the importation of a 40ft container MEDU4389887, containing four vehicles used to conceal 290 parcels weighing 145kg cannabis indica (Colorado) from Montreal, Canada. He had been on the run since March and had, in the course of the investigation, attempted to bribe officers with N10 million, to influence the case.
Chairman and Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Tincan, and Imo state Commands of the agency, for the drug seizures and arrests, especially of those who thought they could evade the long arm of the law. He encouraged them and their compatriots across other formations to intensify their efforts towards achieving set goals.