The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted a suspected drug trafficker, Chigbogu Obiora, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos with 97 wraps of cocaine.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
Babafemi said the 47-year-old drug trafficker was arrested by operatives of NDLEA on April 25 during the inward clearance of the Ethiopian Airline.
He said Obiora, who arrived in Lagos on board the airline from Entebbe, Uganda via Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, was subsequently put under observation.
He said Obiora had so far excreted 97 wraps of substances that tested positive to cocaine with a total weight of 1.55 kilogramme and a street value of N360 million.
Babafemi quoted the NDLEA Commander, MMIA Command, Ahmadu Garba, as saying that Obiora was intercepted in the E-arrival hall of the airport by NDLEA operatives on the suspicion that he ingested narcotic substances.
Garba said: “The suspect was taken for body scan and the result was positive for ingestion of substance suspected to be illicit drug. The suspect was promptly moved to the NDLEA excretion and observation facility.
“Barely an hour after he was arrested, Obiora excreted 31 wraps of cocaine weighing 500 grammes and another 47 wraps (750 grammes) in the evening of same day.
“Nineteen wraps (300 grammes) were excreted the following day, Monday 26th April, bringing the total to 97 wraps, that is, 1.55 kg.”
The NDLEA spokesman said that under interrogation, Obiora claimed he was promised $1,500 if he successfully trafficked the drug.
He said Obiora claimed that he opted for the “deal” because he needed money to feed his family.
He was quoted as having said: “I was living in Madagascar but due to the COVID-19 and the lockdown in the country, I cannot return to my place of work.
“There was a time I started lacking money to feed my family and to pay my children’s school fees. The worst part of it is to pay my rent. So, I decided to take the option to do it and I never knew I could be arrested.
“I have never met the real owner of the drug. I don’t know him, they contacted me on phone and asked if I could do the business.”
Meanwhile, in continuation of efforts to dismantle all drug spots in Ondo State, Babafemi said the state command of the agency has raided two joints.
He said the operatives arrested two dealers and seized 80.2 kilogrammes of skuchies (a cocktail of drugs combination), adding that four hectares of cannabis farms were destroyed in Eleyewo area of Akure South Local Government Area of the state.
He quoted the NDLEA acting Commander, Ondo State Command, Callys Alumona, as saying that a lady, 31-year-old Ibukunoluwa Kemi, and a 25-year-old man, Oluwaseun Sunday, were arrested with 78 kg and 2.2 kg of skuchies respectively.
He noted that both were nabbed in different areas of Akure South in the state capital.
The Chairman, NDLEA, retired, Brigadier General Buba Marwa, commended the officers and men of the MMIA and Ondo State commands for the seizures and arrests.
Marwa charged them and other commands across the country not to rest on their oars in the renewed efforts to rid Nigeria of illicit drugs.
