NDLEA arrests two businessmen with cocaine, heroin concealed in bellies at Abuja airport
By Sodiq Adelakun and Fatai Kasali
Two businessmen, ThankGod Chimamkpa Emenike and Agbo Chidike Prince, have been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The men were found to have swallowed consignments of cocaine and heroin destined for Hong Kong and France. Emenike, 38, was apprehended at the boarding gate of Air France flight 818 to Paris, while Prince, 41, was taken into custody while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 950 to Hong Kong via Addis Ababa.
Both men were detained after body scans revealed they had ingested illicit drugs. Emenike excreted 72 wraps of heroin weighing 1.171 kg, while Prince discharged 49 pellets of cocaine weighing 998.53 grams.
According to the statement, Chidike claimed he was a businessman dealing in spare parts at the Alaba International market in the Ojo area of Lagos. He claimed he was to be paid N3.5 million which he intended to use to import goods from Hong Kong.
In the same vein, Babafemi also announced that NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos on Wednesday 25th October intercepted a Qatar Airways flight passenger going to Oman, Agbo Celestine Tochukwu, with a consignment of 58 parcels of skunk weighing 29.10kgs while undergoing processes to board his flight at the terminal 11 of the airport.
The anti-narcotic agency stated that Tochukwu claimed he relocated to Oman on 6th May and worked as a hotel attendant in Oman before venturing into drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, NDLEA claimed a total of 2,197 kilograms of skunk were recovered in four interdiction operations in parts of Ondo State within four days. While 1,165.5kgs were seized in Uso, Owo LGA on Wednesday 25th October, a consignment of 691kgs was recovered from Ukugu forest in Ipele the previous day, Tuesday 24th October.
The agency further disclosed that a suspect, Ifeanyi Abuguja, 32, was arrested with 87kg of the same substance on Monday 23rd October at Agula Road, Ogbese, Akure North LGA while 253.5kgs were recovered at Ogbese market in Akure North LGA on Thursday 26th October.
Disclosing other interceptions and seizures made by the NDLEA, Babafemi said: “In Oyo State, two suspects: Ayo Dele, 19, and Olaitan Ahmed, 23, were arrested with 160 grams of cannabis at a drug joint at Nalende area of Ibadan metropolis on Sunday 22nd October while a follow-up operation at their warehouse in the same area led to the recovery of 332kgs of the same substance.
“While operatives of the Lagos Command of the Agency intercepted and recovered a vehicle loaded with 209kgs of Loud at Okun Ajah area of the state on Monday 23rd October, their counterparts in Gombe on Saturday 28th October recovered an abandoned consignment of 401 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 392kgs and 21,000 capsules of tramadol at Tumfure area of the state.
“In the early hours of today, Sunday 29th October, NDLEA operatives in Edo State stormed the Utese forest in Ovia North East LGA, where they evacuated a total of 2, 931.3 kilograms of cannabis sativa from a warehouse in the forest.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) urged officers across all formations of the Agency to maintain the offensive action tempo and strive to surpass previous records while maintaining a balance with their drug demand reduction efforts.
