The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has made significant strides in combating drug trafficking in Nigeria, intercepting large consignments of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, skunk, and opioids in multiple operations across the country.
Two returnees from Brazil, Ofoma Sunday and Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, were arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos after excreting a total of 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine.
Sunday, 46, was arrested on September 16 after arriving from Brazil via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, and later excreted 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452kg.
A follow-up operation led to the arrest of 55-year-old Nweke Jude Chuckwudi, who was meant to oversee the recovery of the drugs at a hotel in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.
Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, on the other hand, was arrested on September 19 after a body scan confirmed he had concealed cocaine internally. Under medical observation, he excreted five wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams.
“Ikechukwu confessed he had purchased nine wraps of cocaine in Brazil and inserted them into his anus but expelled some during his transit through Addis Ababa, leaving only five by the time he arrived in Nigeria,” the NDLEA statement revealed.
In another incident, a 38-year-old businesswoman, Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa, was arrested on September 14 while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha with 1.40kg of methamphetamine concealed in her underwear.
“She admitted to trading in used clothing and running a POS business in Enugu before being recruited into drug trafficking,” the agency stated.
The NDLEA also intercepted a consignment of food items containing 40 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 2.30kg bound for Hong Kong via Turkish Airlines at the NAHCO export shed of Lagos airport. A 59-year-old suspect, Umelo Ifeanyi Venatus, who presented the shipment, was arrested.
Another seizure was made at a courier company in Lagos, where seven phone chargers destined for New Zealand were found to contain 257 grams of cocaine.
Outside Lagos, the NDLEA carried out major raids in several states. In Adamawa, 233,800 pills of tramadol were recovered in three separate operations.
In Zamfara State, operatives supported by the Community Protection Guards intercepted 109 bags of skunk weighing 1,099.4kg in a Mitsubishi Canter truck. Other seizures included 14,000 capsules of tramadol recovered from two suspects on the Damaturu-Potiskum road in Yobe, and three sacks of skunk weighing 25.5kg recovered from Anas Hamisu, 28, in Taraba.
In Edo State, the NDLEA destroyed two cannabis farms spanning over four hectares in Atororo forest, Owan West LGA, with an estimated yield of 11,330kg. Eleven bags of processed skunk weighing 148kg were also seized, and three suspects were arrested.
The Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers in Lagos, Adamawa, Zamfara, Edo, Taraba, and Yobe states for their successful operations.
“These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organisations operating in Nigeria and around the world, prioritising those bent on targeting our productive youth population with illicit substances until they’re no longer able to inflict harm on our communities or misrepresent our country’s image in the global space,” Marwa said.
