Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 42-year-old Angolan businessman Mbala Dajou Abuba at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano for attempting to traffic a large consignment of cocaine, which he ingested, to Istanbul Turkey.
A statement by the spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi on Sunday, said Abuba who is from the Zaire province in Angola was arrested last Tuesday at the screening point of the Kano airport while trying to board Egypt Air flight MS 880 to Istanbul, Turkey via Cairo.
Babafemi said after Abuba body scan result confirmed he ingested illicit drug, he was placed under excretion observation during which he expelled 120 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.829 kilogrammes in seven excretions.
In his statement, the suspect claimed he was into the business of township delivery services in Angola before delving into the illicit drug trade.
The spokesman said a similar attempt by an auto spare parts dealer, Okeke Igwe, to send two parcels of 1.1 kilogrammes cocaine concealed in vehicle propellers to Angola through the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, was thwarted by NDLEA operatives who arrested him last Monday following credible intelligence.
Babafemi said during interrogation, the suspect claimed that he is a businessman selling auto parts in ASPANDA, Trade Fair Complex, Ojo area of Lagos State.
Babafemi also revealed that the bid by another suspect, Ezechi Cyprian to move a large consignment of cocaine weighing 5.4 kilogrammes to Owerri, Imo state in his Toyota Sienna bus on Sunday 23rd February was frustrated by operatives of a special operations unit of NDLEA who arrested him following weeks of intelligence and surveillance.
In Delta state, NDLEA operatives supported by the military last Thursday stormed a forest in Innam-Abbi/Orogun community, Ndokwa West local government area where they destroyed over 50,000 kilogrammes cannabis on a 20-hectare farm land. Five suspects arrested during the raid include: Augustine Subaru, 45; Ukoba Malachukwu, 53; Odalonu Emmanuel, 40; Esuabom Macaulay, 35; and Itoje Safe, 54.
In another operation in Delta, NDLEA operatives last Friday intercepted a Mercedes Benz truck marked AWK 791 ZJ along Abraka-Orogun road. A search of the truck led to the recovery of 101 bags of skunk with a total weight of 1,111 kilogrammes.
In Edo state, NDLEA officers supported by the military on Saturday raided the Okpuje community in Owan West local government area where they destroyed over 100 jumbo bags of skunk in warehouses and recovered a total of 1,409.5 kilogrammes of the psychoactive substance for the prosecution of arrested suspects: Oikelomen Osere, 38 and Glory Iroyo, 42.
Babafemi said while a suspect, Michael Omoloki, 46, was arrested with 58.5 kilogrammes of skunk at the Ibadan end of the Lagos -Ibadan expressway, Oyo state, operatives in Kwara state last Monday nabbed a Beninoise, Lawali Mohammed with 2,980 tablets of tramadol and dozens of diazepam pills at Eiyenkorin expressway, Ilorin.
In Osun, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Ibadan/ Gbongan expressway lastt Thursday intercepted a consignment of 1.05 kilogrammes skunk concealed in detergent soap and biscuit carton, while Sunday Ogbu, 45, was arrested in connection with the seizure. A suspect Ayuba Mustapha, 30, was arrested at Tsafe, Zamfara state with 24,700 pills of tramadol on Sunday 23rd February.
In Borno state, Mustapha Shettima, 50, was arrested by NDLEA operatives with 31 kilogrammes skunk, 1,000 pills of tramadol and N720,000 monetary exhibit along Bama road, Maiduguri last Wednesday, while Adamu Idris, 40, was nabbed along Zaria road, Kano, same day with 140 blocks of cannabis weighing 73.5 kilogrammes.
Babafemi said with the same vigour, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), while commending the officers and men of MMIA, MAKIA, SOU, Tincan, Delta, Edo, Oyo, Kano, Osun, Borno, Zamfara and Kwara commands if the agency for the arrests and seizures, stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated.
Michael Olugbode
