By Emma Njoku
A 46-year-old businesswoman, Mrs. Adisa Afusat Olayinka, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, for ingesting 80 pellets of cocaine.
Mrs Olayinka, who hails from Ilorin, in Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State, was heading to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for Umrah (Lesser Hajj).
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr. Femi Babafemi, in a statement, yesterday, said the woman, who lives in Ibafo, Ogun state, was arrested last Wednesday, at the boarding screening area of the airport, during an outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight 1418.
“She was subsequently taken into custody where she excreted 80 pellets of the illicit drug between Wednesday and Saturday, November 27. She claimed, during interviews, that she saved N2.5 million over a period of one year to buy the drugs in bits from six different people in the Akala, Mushin area of Lagos.
“The suspect further said she was trading in clothes, but had to borrow N1million from three persons to make up the money used to buy the drugs, adding that she spent another N1million to renew her passport, visa and buy return flight tickets.
“She said she was encouraged to traffic the drugs by a woman she met during her last Umrah trip to Saudi Arabia, in 2019.
“She added that she needed to raise N7 million for In Vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment due to pressure from people because she’s been married for 28 years without a child due to fertility challenges,” Babafemi disclosed in the statement.
Meanwhile, another trafficker, Inusa Abdulrazaki was arrested with 101 wraps of heroin, weighing 1.3 kilograms last Friday, at Gate C -Departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on his way to Italy via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines.
The drugs were concealed inside cassava flour, popularly called gari.
The following day, Saturday, November 20, NDLEA operatives at the airport, during a routine cargo search at NAHCO export shed, intercepted an abandoned consignment of khat 17.90kg.
While commending the officers and men of the NAIA and MMIA commands for their vigilance and steadfastness, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), urged them to always stay two steps ahead of the drug cartels.