By Seyi Odewale
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday said it has arrested a Vietnam-bound businessman, Paul Mbadugha at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, (NAIA), Abuja after he tested positive for ingestion of cocaine.
In a statement by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi yesterday in Abuja, the 54-year-old suspect was intercepted at the boarding gate of the Abuja airport on August 12 during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam via Doha.
“After four days under excretion observation, Mbadugha egested a total of 88 wraps of the illicit drug with a gross weight of 1.710kg.
“In his statement, he claimed he’s a Lagos-based businessman and was given the cocaine pellets to swallow by a friend at Isolo area of the state for onward delivery in Vietnam for a fee of 2,000 dollars,” he said.
In the same vein, the NDLEA officers at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos, intercepted a shipment of Loud, which Babafemi described as a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 800g and was concealed in noodles going to Congo.
“A follow-up operation at the Alaba International Market, Ojo area of Lagos led to the arrest of the sender of the consignment, Nnamani Sunday Sunny, who deals in GSM handsets,” he said.
Meanwhile, a large consignment of Loud imported from Canada had been recovered by the NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport.
According to Babafemi, a suspect, Desalu Temitope, who arrived on board Air France with six boxes was arrested by anti-narcotic officers during a joint examination by security agencies at the arrival hall.
“A total of 65.80kg of the psychoactive substance were recovered from four of the six suitcases.
“In his statement, Desalu said he and an accomplice currently at large were promised 10,000 dollars upon successful delivery of the shipment in Lagos,” he said.
In another development, the drug law agency said it intercepted 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N6.2 billion in street value.
According to Babafemi, the NDLEA operatives recovered the drugs from five containers, adding that the operation was carried out by the agency’s operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State.
He said it was during a joint examination of the containers with men of the Nigeria Customs and other port stakeholders on August 14 and August 15. “The bottles of the opioids were packed in 5,337 cartons with a gross weight of 133,860kg and shipped in five containers from India,” he said.
Also, the NDLEA operatives supported by men of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies as well as community youths on August 14, raided the Ise forest reserve, Saalaja camp, Ise-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Babafemi said 21,800kg of cannabis sativa (Indian hemp) on 20 hectares of farmland were destroyed. “The following day, August 15, NDLEA officers on patrol along Onitsha-Enugu Road in Enugu State intercepted a Sienna bus marked SKA-24 AG. A total of 200.2kg of cannabis (Indian hemp) was recovered and the driver,” he said.
The agency also said two people were arrested with 145,400 pills of tramadol on August 12 at Gadar Tamburawa, area of Kano State.
Babafemi said the agency’s operatives in Ogun State on August 13 also arrested seven people when a cannabis plantation on six hectares was raided at Alaka village.
In Abuja, the NDLEA officers on patrol along the Kwali-Gwagwalada expressway on August 13 intercepted a truck from which 30,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection were recovered.
Also, the NDLEA said its operatives in Niger State on August 15 arrested a man in Kontagora town with 28,500 pills of tramadol, concealed in a loudspeaker and their counterparts in Kogi on August 14.
According to Babafemi, the agency also nabbed a man with 40,000 pills of the same opioid heading to Kontagora, while another man was arrested at Paparanda, Lokoja, Kogi State with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection.
