A 62-YEAR-OLD Lagos-based businessman has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, for attempting to smuggle cocaine to China.
This was disclosed in a statement sent to News Point Nigeria by the Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi.
According to the agency, he was apprehended on Saturday, during the outward clearance of passengers travelling to China via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940.
A body scan conducted by NDLEA officers confirmed that he had ingested illicit drugs, after which he was placed under medical observation.
While under observation, the agency said the suspect expelled a total of 95 jumbo-sized wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.589 kilograms, in seven excretions.
NDLEA said he told investigators that he is involved in the clothing and auto spare parts business in Lagos and claimed he resorted to drug trafficking to raise funds to complete a house he is building in his village, Iwollo, Enugu State.
In separate operations across the country, NDLEA operatives recorded several major interceptions and arrests.
In the Federal Capital Territory, officers recovered 627.7 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, from a makeshift warehouse within Fums Plaza, Kubwa.
Also, an attempt to smuggle methamphetamine concealed in MP3 speakers from Enugu to Abuja and Kaduna was foiled on Friday, February 6, when operatives intercepted the consignments in a commercial bus.
A follow-up operation in Zuba, FCT, led to the arrest of Ebube Okeke, the owner of one of the parcels containing 173 grams of methamphetamine, while Evans Ugwu, Mohammed Eze Arinze and Friday Michael were arrested on Saturday, February 7, in Kaduna as they arrived to collect a second consignment weighing 28 grams.
In Taraba State, NDLEA officers at the Dan-Anacha patrol point in Gassol Local Government Area intercepted a 32-year-old suspect, Yusuf Abubakar, on Friday, February 7, while conveying packs of Hollandia yoghurt from Lagos to Mubi, Adamawa State.
A search revealed that some of the packs were used to conceal 1.8 kilograms of methamphetamine.
In Oyo State, a 29-year-old Beninoise, Shuaibu Abdulrahman, was arrested on Thursday, February 5, at Ibudo-Igboho village, Sooro Kishi, with 149.6 kilograms of skunk concealed in rice shafts.
In a separate operation in Ibadan, Adeniyi Adeola, also known as Prince, was arrested at Foko, Agbeni Market, on Wednesday, February 4, with 10,820 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 117,820 capsules of tramadol recovered from his truck.
Also in Ibadan, a suspected drug kingpin, Jimoh Nurudeen, 40, was arrested on Saturday, February 7, at the Badeku area, alongside his accomplice, Ogundipe Yusuf, 27.
Recovered from them were eight litres of precursor chemicals, 14 grams of skunk, drug production paraphernalia, ₦7,408,400 in cash, and two vehicles, a Mercedes-Benz SUV (ABC 832 AZ) and a Toyota Highlander (RBC 243 BS).
In Kwara State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a fuel tanker conveying petrol from Lagos to Maiduguri on Saturday, February 7, and recovered 395,400 capsules of tramadol concealed within the truck. The driver was taken into custody.
Meanwhile, a couple, Izuchukwu Azubuike, 37, and Ifunaya Mmadueke, 32, were arrested at Umuaka, Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State, with 203 kilograms of skunk.
In Ondo State, officers recovered 420 kilograms of skunk from a bush at Ikun Akoko on Friday, 6 February.
In Lagos State, operatives of the NDLEA Marine Command seized 31 wraps of cocaine hidden inside a handbag from a suspect, Eze Nodebechi Austin, upon his arrival from Côte d’Ivoire by boat at Yekeme, Badagry, on Friday, February 6.
Another suspect, Adekunle Oluwatosin Olajide, was arrested at Lagos Island on Wednesday, 4 February, with 3.6 kilograms of Canadian Loud and Colorado recovered from him.
In Enugu State, NDLEA operatives arrested a drug dealer, Emeka Okeke, 37, at his hideout on Akuruka Street, Asata, where various quantities of skunk, methamphetamine, cocaine and molly, as well as ₦457,700 in cash, were seized.