NDLEA intercepts okada rider with 100 wraps of meth, seizes N10.3bn cannabis at Lagos port
By Imisioluwa Afunmiso
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a commercial motorcycle rider who allegedly ingested 100 wraps of methamphetamine after arriving at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, while also seizing cannabis worth over N10.3 billion at the Apapa Port.
The agency also arrested a South African woman over alleged heroin trafficking at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.
According to a statement by NDLEA on Sunday, the motorcycle rider, identified as 48-year-old Onyechere Daniel Chinadufor, was arrested at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the MMIA after arriving from Madagascar via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
NDLEA said a search of the suspect’s checked-in backpack led to the recovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine concealed among his clothing.
The agency said the suspect confessed to working as an okada rider in the Oke-Afa area of Lagos for about 15 years before he was recruited into drug trafficking by a friend based in Uganda.
According to the agency, Chinadufor told investigators he ingested the drug pellets in Uganda before travelling to Madagascar to deliver the consignment. However, he was denied entry into Madagascar and was subsequently returned to Lagos, where he was apprehended by NDLEA operatives.
NDLEA said the suspect was placed under observation because he could not state the exact number of pellets he had swallowed. During the three-day observation, he excreted 13 additional wraps, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilogrammes.
In a separate operation, the anti-narcotics agency said it intercepted 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilogrammes and valued at over N10.3 billion in street value at the Apapa Port, Lagos.
The agency said the illicit consignment was uncovered during a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on July 10.
It explained that the seizure followed weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance by operatives of its Maritime Intelligence Unit in collaboration with the Apapa Strategic Command after tracking the container from Montreal, Canada.
The agency also disclosed that its operatives foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilogrammes of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor to Cyprus through a courier company in Lagos.
Meanwhile, NDLEA arrested a 38-year-old South African woman, Ms Will Jessica Ann, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for allegedly trafficking 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin concealed in her luggage.
The suspect was arrested during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha on July 6.
According to NDLEA, the woman initially denied travelling with any checked-in luggage but later admitted ownership after officers matched the baggage tags with those attached to her passport.
Preliminary investigations, the agency said, revealed that the suspect travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja and is believed to be part of a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Cambodia-South Africa route with her husband and alleged accomplice, Jan Coenraad De Jager.
NDLEA also said its commands across the country sustained public enlightenment campaigns under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative through advocacy visits to schools, places of worship, workplaces and communities in Ebonyi, Kano, Ekiti and Ogun states, as well as an engagement with the Rivers State Government.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, MMIA, NAIA, Maritime Intelligence Unit and Apapa Commands for the successful operations, urging them to sustain the momentum in the fight against illicit drug trafficking and abuse.