Chukwuemeka claimed he ventured into the criminal enterprise to raise enough money to marry a new wife and start life afresh after wasting 30 years of his life in Brazil, Ethiopia, and Thailand.
The NDLEA said Chukwuemeka was arrested on October 3 during an inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight 951 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and taken for body scan, which revealed multiple pellets in his stomach. “While under observation, he excreted a total of 100 wraps of cocaine weighing 2.195 kilograms in four excretions,’ the agency said.
In his statement, Chukwuemeka claimed to have spent 30 years in Brazil, Ethiopia, and Thailand, while he was once married, but lost his wife and without a child, adding that was why he decided to go into drug trafficking to raise enough money to marry a new wife and start life afresh.
READ ALSO:Banks contravening lending Act to states, others — FRC
On the same day, the NDLEA operatives at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano State, intercepted a 45-year-old woman, Bilkisu Mohammed Bello while preparing to board a Saudia Airlines flight to Saudi Arabia.
While being interviewed, she confessed that pellets of cocaine given to her to swallow before her flight were kept in a house in Farawa area of Kano.
When she led NDLEA officers to the house, 52 wraps of the illicit substance with a total weight of 767grammes were recovered.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA operatives supported by officers and men of the Nigerian Army, the Civil Defence Corps and Amotekun personnel on October 3 stormed James town, in Ogunmakin, Obafemi Owode local government area of Ogun State where they located and destroyed 10.38 tonnes of cannabis sativa cultivated on 4.152 hectares of land.
On their return from the operation, the team also intercepted a truck marked FS548XN carrying a 40ft container loaded with logs of wood.
A search of the container led to the recovery of two bags of cannabis sativa weighing 20kgs while six suspects: Ahmed Yusuf, Olaniyi Babatunde, Adedeji Babatunde, Richard John, Osolale Olamilekan and Abdulazeez Saied, in the truck were arrested.
In the same vein, operatives on October 1, raided Obi camp in Owan West LGA, Edo State where 30 sacks of skunk, weighing 300kgs and concealed in charcoal were evacuated from an old, dilapidated mud house.
Similarly, two cannabis farms measuring 1.179065 hectares at Igbanke forest in Orhiowon local government area of the state were identified and destroyed on October 6, while four suspects, Tersoo Zaria, 28; Ifeanyi Osai, 53; Moses David, 19, and Daniel Gabriel, 20, were arrested.
In Gombe State, a suspect, Auwal Bindow was arrested on October 6, along Bauchi – Gombe road with 50,000 capsules of tramadol, while in Oyo State, the NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway nabbed Anuoluwapo Blessing Iyanu, 32, with 52 blocks of compressed pawpaw shaped cannabis sativa weighing 30kgs on October 4.
With the same vigour, the various commands of the agency across the country continued with the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy in the past week including WADA sensitisation lecture for students and teachers of Igbonnibi High School, Ila Orangun, Osun State and WADA sensitisation lecture at Royal Ambassador Secondary School, Makurdi, Benue State.
Others were WADA sensitisation lecture at Ilora Baptist Grammar School, Ilora, Oyo State and LGA WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Beth-Root Model Secondary School, Onitsha, Anambra State.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) commended the officers and men of the NAIA, MAKIA, Ogun, Oyo, Edo, and Gombe Commands of the Agency for their outstanding feats in the past week.
He applauded their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying their WADA advocacy lectures thus creating a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.
