NDLEA Arrests Businessman at Enugu Airport for Ingesting 90 Wraps of Cocaine
…Agency Smashes Two Cocaine Syndicates, Arrests Chinese Kingpin, Intercepts N4.3 Billion Worth of Opioids
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its crackdown on drug trafficking networks across Nigeria, with significant arrests and seizures recorded in the past week.
According to a statement signed by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy at the NDLEA, among those arrested include a 50-year-old businessman, Osuoha Christian Iheanacho, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for ingesting 90 wraps of cocaine.
Osuoha, intercepted on Wednesday, 20th November 2024, during the inbound screening of passengers arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, had ingested 90 pellets of cocaine weighing 2.019 kilograms.
Following months of surveillance, operatives placed him under excretion observation, during which he excreted the pellets in seven sessions.
Investigations revealed that Osuoha, a trader dealing in phone accessories in Lagos and Gabon, had travelled by road from Gabon to Douala, Cameroon, before boarding a flight to Addis Ababa.
There, he swallowed the cocaine pellets during transit before continuing to Enugu, with Lagos as his intended final destination. In his statement, Osuoha admitted to engaging in the criminal trade to salvage his struggling business.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives dismantled two major cocaine syndicates in separate operations.
On Thursday, 21st November, a Special Operations Unit arrested 42-year-old Ndive Maxwell Obinna, the head of a cocaine distribution cartel, alongside five associates at Ago Palace Way, Okota, Isolo. A total of 2.412 kilograms of cocaine were recovered.
The arrested associates include Okeke Gloria Ifeoma, the syndicate’s stash keeper, and four others.
In another operation, a Chinese national, Tianzhen Yen, also known as Jackie, was arrested at his hotel in Ikeja.
Yen, the suspected leader of a trans-border drug trafficking syndicate, was linked to 750 grams of cocaine intercepted from a suspect at the Gbaji checkpoint on the Badagry-Seme expressway.
A search of Yen’s hotel room yielded additional quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and drug-related equipment.
At Lagos’ Tincan Seaport, NDLEA operatives discovered 92 parcels of Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain, weighing 23.25 kilograms concealed in two imported vehicles. The vehicles, a Nissan car and a GMC bus, were part of a shipment from Canada.
Similarly, at Onne Port in Rivers State, operatives intercepted two containers of imported opioids valued at N4.3 billion. The seizures included 168,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N1.176 billion and 4.5 million pills of super royal tramadol 225mg, valued at N3.15 billion.
NDLEA’s operations extended to Ekiti, Oyo, Edo, Kano, and Bauchi States, yielding significant arrests and drug recoveries. Among these was the arrest of a 50-year-old physically challenged woman, Mustapha Boja, in Ekiti, found with 286 grams of cannabis.
In Edo, over 1,200 kilograms of cannabis sativa were recovered during raids, while in Kano, four suspects were apprehended with 45 kilograms of cannabis.
Beyond enforcement, NDLEA continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns.
Lectures were conducted in schools and communities across states like Katsina, Enugu, Rivers, and Ekiti, aimed at educating young people and leaders about the dangers of drug abuse.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the operatives for their diligence and operational successes.
He emphasised the importance of the agency’s dual approach to curbing drug supply and reducing demand through community engagement and enforcement.
The NDLEA has reaffirmed its commitment to ridding Nigeria of drug trafficking networks and protecting the nation’s youth from the scourge of drug abuse.
