Operatives of the National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested, at the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), another businessman, 44-year-old Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka for ingesting 53 wraps of cocaine while on his way to Tehran Khomeini, Islamic Republic of Iran.
This is barely two weeks after a 60-year-old businessman Chinedu Okigbo heading to Iran with 65 pellets of cocaine in his stomach was caught at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.
The spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi said Ezemokwe was arrested at the Port Harcourt airport on Saturday 7th June while trying to board Qatar Airways flight QR1434 flying to Tehran Khomeini in Iran via Doha. After a body scan proved positive to ingestion of illicit drugs, he was placed on excretion observation during which he expelled 53 wraps of cocaine in six excretions with a total weight of 1.172 kilogrammes.
He said the suspect claimed to have gone into the criminal trade two years ago, moving between the West African sub-region and Iran.
He disclosed that similarly NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos in the early hours of Saturday intercepted an Italy bound passenger Edobor Ali on an Air France flight.
He noted that the NDLEA officers in collaboration with the Aviation Security of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), discovered drug consignments hidden in the luggage of the suspect during baggage scanning at the tarmac.
In his statement, Ebodor said he lives in Italy where he was hired and sent on the all expense paid trip to Nigeria to courier the drug consignments to Milan, Italy for a fee of 2000 Euros.
Babafemi said at the Port Harcourt Ports in Onne, Rivers state, NDLEA operatives last Friday intercepted a shipment of 157,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over N1.1 billion in street value, during a joint examination of a watch-listed container with men of Customs Service and other security agencies. The opioid consignments were hidden behind 257 cartons of ceramic sanitary wares.
He said at least, three suspects: Friday Achibong, 47; Abraham Anthony, 21; and Utibe Okon, 24, were arrested last Thursday 12th June when NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse in Obereakai, Odukpani local government area, Cross River state, where a total of 2,687 kilogrammes skunk, a strain of cannabis, was recovered.
He added that same day in Bauchi state, NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence, arrested the duo of Iriemi Imonikhe, 49, and Sa’idu Ladan, 30, along Bauchi -Jos road after 195 blocks of skunk weighing 287 kilogrammes were discovered in their Toyota Camry car marked AKL 201 GG.
He said while 14 jumbo sacks of skunk weighing 560 kilogrammes were recovered from a wooden boat at Oniru beach in Lagos by operatives of the Marine Command of NDLEA last Thursday, officers of the Muhammadu Buhari International Airport Maiduguri same day arrested two businessmen: Ishaku Abdullahi, 30; and Buba Usman, 32, at the arrival hall of the domestic wing of the airport with various quantities of ecstacy pills and skunk packaged in fanciful wraps labelled as ‘Lychee’ and ‘Porro Legal’
Babafemi said the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), social advocacy activities by NDLEA commands equally continued across the country 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, PHIA, MBIAM, PHPC, Marine, Cross River, and Bauchi commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, praised their compatriots in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
Michael Olugbode
