NDLEA intercepts UK-bound N560m meth, arrests baron, seals Lekki mansion

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted a large consignment of methamphetamine concealed in powdered custard containers as part of a consolidated cargo going to London, United Kingdom, at the SAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos.

The illicit drug consignment, weighing 30.10 kilograms, with a street value of N567 million, was detected and seized by NDLEA operatives at the airport on Tuesday, May 16.

Femi Babafemi, the spokesman for the anti-narcotic agency, said this was swiftly followed by a series of follow-up operations that led to the arrest of a freight agent, Nwobodo Chidiebere, a female suspect, Chioma Lucy Akuta, and ultimately the drug lord behind the shipment, Charles Chinedu Ezeh, who was arrested at Sotel Suites, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, on Thursday, May 18.

According to Babafemi, Ezeh claims he is a businessman and deals in articles in Onitsha, Anambra State, but investigations revealed he lived with his wife and children in London until December 10, 2022, when he fled to Nigeria after his involvement in a drug-related offence in the UK.

He added that though Ezeh claimed to have been living in hotels since his return to Nigeria last December, operatives were able to locate his mansion at No. 1 Hawawu Abikan Street, Lekki, on Friday, May 19, where a search was conducted and his travel and property documents, among others, were recovered.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Adamawa arrested a 32-year-old notorious drug dealer, Prince Ikechukwu Uzoma, on Monday, May 15, in the Mubi area of the state with one kilogram of skunk.

Ikechukwu had twice been arrested and convicted of the same offence in the past.

In 2017, he was sentenced to six months imprisonment, and in 2019, he was again sent to jail for two years.

In the same vein, a trans-border trafficker, Faisal Mohammed, 27, was arrested on Wednesday, May 17, in Mubi following the interception of a truck from Onitsha, Anambra State, where a total of 2,376 sachets of tramadol, comprising 23,760 pills, were found concealed in three blue rubber Jerry cans that were hidden underneath the body of the trailer. The suspect admitted the opioids were to be taken to Cameroon.