By Favour Olisah, JKNewsMedia Reporter
TWO NIGERIANS who returned from Brazil have excreted 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine while in observatory custody after their arrest by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos.
One of the suspects, 46-year-old Ofoma Sunday, was arrested on Tuesday 16th September at Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport on arrival from Laos, Brazil via Ethiopian Airlines.
A body scan confirmed ingestion of illicit drugs.
Ofoma had left Nigeria on 3rd September to courier the consignment for a reward of $2,500.
A follow-up operation at Eliata Hotel, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, led to the arrest of 55-year-old Nweke Jude Chuckwudi, who was to oversee the drug excretion process.
Ofoma later egested 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452kg in eight excretions.
Similarly, Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, another returnee, was arrested on Friday 19th September during inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers from Brazil via Addis Ababa.
A body scan confirmed drug ingestion, and he later expelled five wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams.
He admitted to inserting nine wraps in Brazil, flushing two during transit in Ethiopia, and expelling two more mid-flight, leaving five inside his body on arrival.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives arrested a businesswoman, Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa, on Sunday 14th September after Aviation Security Officers at Terminal 2, Lagos airport, found 1.40kg of methamphetamine concealed in her butt pad underwear as she attempted to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha.
Ebere claimed she trades in used clothing and operates a POS business in Enugu, where she was recruited into drug trafficking.
At the NAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport, officers intercepted on Monday 15th September a consignment of food items concealing 40 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 2.30kg bound for Hong Kong via Turkish Airlines.
A 59-year-old suspect, Umelo Ifeanyi Venatus, who presented the consignment as part of consolidated cargo, was arrested.
On Thursday 18th September, another consignment destined for Europe was intercepted at a courier company in Lagos, where seven phone chargers were found containing 257 grams of cocaine en route to New Zealand.
In Adamawa State, 233,800 pills of tramadol were seized during three raids. On Wednesday 17th September, 195,600 pills were recovered from an abandoned Toyota Sienna in Mayo Belwa, Yola South.
The same day, a suspect, Rita Zira, was arrested in Jambutu, Jimeta Yola, with 27,900 pills found in her bedroom.
On Saturday 20th September 22-year-old Halilu Abubakar was caught with 10,300 pills at Namtari checkpoint, Yola.
In Zamfara, NDLEA operatives supported by Community Protection Guards seized 109 bags of skunk weighing 1,099.4kg from a Mitsubishi Canter truck along Gummi-Daki Takwas road on Saturday 20th September.
The consignment was being conveyed to Company village in Gummi LGA by 40-year-old suspect Hammed Danladi Aliyu.
Two suspects, Babangida Usman and Ismail Ibrahim, were arrested with 14,000 capsules of tramadol along Damaturu-Potiskum road, Yobe State.
In Taraba, 28-year-old Anas Hamisu was nabbed with three sacks of skunk weighing 25.525kg at Garba-Chede, Bali LGA, on Wednesday 17th September.
In Edo State, NDLEA officers destroyed two cannabis farms covering 4.532 hectares at Atororo forest in Owan West LGA on Wednesday 17th September.
The farms had an estimated yield of 11,330kg. Eleven bags of processed skunk and seeds weighing 148kg were also recovered, with three suspects – Mathew Onoja, 56; Moses Thomas Male, 18; and Friday Uchenjin, 38 – arrested.
The agency also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign with lectures at schools, worship centres and communities across Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Benue and Kano states, while the Zone 11 Command paid an advocacy visit to Enugu State First Lady, Mrs. Nkechinyere Mbah.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers across MMIA, DOGI, Adamawa, Zamfara, Edo, Taraba and Yobe commands for the successful operations.
He said the arrests and seizures marked a significant step in the agency’s efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks targeting Nigeria’s youth population.
