The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has seized cocaine worth over N4.9 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos State.
This followed a failed bid by members of an international drug syndicate that operates across Brazil, Ethiopia and Nigeria to smuggle into Lagos a total of 845 wraps of cocaine weighing 18.72 kilograms.
The drug consignments worth N4,492,800,000 in street value were recovered from two lavatories of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft.
This was during the post-landing cleaning of the cabin of flight ET900 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Lagos on October 29, 2024.
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According to available information, the illicit drug consignments were wrapped in nine polythene bags and hidden in the waste collectors in the two rear lavatories of the aircraft, from where they were recovered after the MMIA Strategic Command of the NDLEA was alerted about the strange objects.
No fewer than 30 suspects have so far been grilled in connection with the seizure.
Investigations revealed that the seized drugs were conveyed from Brazil to Ethiopia through ingestion and excreted in Addis Ababa by a set of couriers, while some other traffickers picked them up and attempted to smuggle them into Nigeria through the Lagos airport before their attempt was frustrated with the cooperation of the airline’s authorities and other airport stakeholders.
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