By Amofokhai Williams
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a string of international drug smuggling attempts at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, arresting multiple traffickers, including two Brazil returnees who excreted 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine after days in observatory custody.
According to NDLEA‘s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, one of the suspects, 46-year-old Ofoma Sunday, was intercepted on 16 September at Terminal 2 after arriving from Brazil on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
A body scan revealed he had ingested narcotics. He later excreted 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452kg over eight sessions.
Babafemi alleged that Ofoma admitted he was promised $2,500 for successfully couriering the consignment, adding that a swift follow-up operation led to the arrest of 55-year-old Nweke Jude Chuckwudi at a hotel in Amuwo Odofin, where he had been assigned to recover the drugs.
In a separate operation, the NDLEA‘s spokesman revealed that Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu was arrested on 19 September after arriving from Brazil via Addis Ababa.
“He excreted five wraps of cocaine weighing 145g. The 2017 Brazil migrant, who also lived in the U.S. before being deported in 2022, confessed he had initially bought nine wraps, but flushed two in Ethiopia due to severe anal pain and expelled another two mid-flight before landing in Lagos,” he said.
The NDLEA also intercepted a businesswoman, Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa, on 14 September. Aviation Security officers discovered 1.40kg of methamphetamine concealed in her butt-pad underwear as she attempted to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha. Ebere, who runs a clothing and POS business in Enugu, admitted she was recruited into the drug trade.
Further seizures included 2.30kg of methamphetamine hidden in food items bound for Hong Kong on 15 September, presented by 59-year-old Umelo Ifeanyi Venatus; and 257g of cocaine concealed inside seven phone chargers in a shipment to New Zealand intercepted on 18 September.
“These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organizations operating in Nigeria and around the world, prioritizing those bent on targeting our productive youth population with illicit substances until they’re no longer able to inflict harm on our communities or misrepresent our country’s image in the global space”, said the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd).
He commended the officers and men of the various commands for the successful operations, enjoining them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.
