NaijNaira
Two travelers from Brazil have been caught in Lagos after excreting heroin and cocaine, a case that NDLEA says shows the bold tactics drug cartels now use — www.naijnaira.com reports.
According to NDLEA’s spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the suspects, Ofoma Sunday, 46, and Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, 36, were placed under watch after scans at the airport revealed they ingested illicit substances.
Investigators said Ofoma passed out 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452 kilograms, while Ukachukwu expelled five wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams during observation.
A follow-up operation led to the arrest of 55-year-old Nweke Jude Chukwudi in a Lagos hotel, where he was waiting to receive the heroin shipment.
In his confession, Ukachukwu admitted that he bought nine wraps of cocaine in Brazil and concealed them, but had to discard two after experiencing severe pain during the trip.
He told interrogators, “I could only manage to reinsert seven wraps before boarding, but I expelled two more mid-flight.”
The NDLEA disclosed that the Lagos seizures were part of a week-long nationwide crackdown against traffickers smuggling drugs in unusual ways, including food packs, underwear, and even phone chargers.
In another case, a woman identified as Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa was arrested at the Lagos airport while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha with 1.40 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a butt pad.
At the NAHCO export shed, NDLEA discovered 40 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 2.30 kilograms in food items bound for Hong Kong, while 257 grams of cocaine concealed in phone chargers was intercepted en route to New Zealand.
Domestic raids also intensified, with 233,800 tramadol pills seized in Adamawa, including nearly 200,000 tablets abandoned in a Toyota Sienna vehicle.
In Zamfara, a Mitsubishi truck carrying 1,099 kilograms of cannabis skunk was intercepted, and in Edo State, officers destroyed cannabis farms spread across four hectares with a potential yield of more than 11,000 kilograms.
The NDLEA confirmed that arrests linked to drug operations also stretched across Yobe, Taraba, and other states in the country.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised the coordinated operations, saying, “These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organisations.”
He stressed that the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign will keep focusing on both international drug cartels and local suppliers preying on Nigerian youths.
The agency extended sensitisation drives to schools, religious centres, and communities last week, urging Nigerians to stay alert against the menace of illicit substances.
