• As NDLEA intercepts US-bound Meth consignments, arrests pregnant drug dealer in Edo
A Brazilian returnee and father of two, Okolie Paulinus Nwabueze has been arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for importing 92 wraps of cocaine.
Nwabueze was said to have ingested the 92 wraps of cocaine, which he eventually excreted after days under observation in the Agency’s facility.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, made the disclosure on Sunday in a press statement made available to newsmen.
He said, “The 53-year-old trafficker who hails from Mmaku village, Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State was arrested on Friday 2nd September upon his arrival on Qatar Airline flight enroute Brazil-Doha-Abuja.
“He claimed to have left Nigeria to Mozambique in 2004 and finally relocated to Brazil in 2017, where he obtained a residence permit before deciding to import the illicit substance for a $4,000 fee.”
In a similar development, a 42-year-old man, Aliyu Bello Kwasare, was arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, for attempting to export a consignment of new psychoactive substance, Akuskura, to Saudi Arabia.
“The indigene of Kware LGA, Sokoto, who lives in Goron Dutse area of Kano, was arrested on Monday 5th Sept. during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airline flight to Riyadh,” Babafemi stated.
Meanwhile, no fewer than 1,099,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg were seized through inter-agency collaboration between NDLEA and the Nigerian Customs at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos.
Babafemj said the pharmaceutical opioids packed in 50 cartons weighing 2,058.90kg, were imported from Pakistan via Addis-Ababa on Ethiopian Airways. The consignment was said to have been concealed among other non-controlled pharmaceuticals.
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Also, a freight agent, Aliyu Abubakar was on 9th September arrested at the NAHCO export shed of the airport over attempt to export a consignment of cannabis concealed inside bottles of Caro white body lotion.
More so, attempts by drug cartels to export 7.805 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine to the United States and Australia have been thwarted by NDLEA operatives attached to some courier companies in Lagos.
“The meth consignments were concealed in the linings of local fabric, wooden statutes, printer cartridges, handle of travel bag and cassava flakes,” Babafemi said.
Meanwhile, a 25-year-old pregnant woman, Haruna Favour, was arrested in Auchi, Edo state on Friday 9th September with 82 pinches of methamphetamine as well as various quantities of Loud, Arizona, Colorado variants of cannabis and codeine based cough syrup.
“In Gombe, One Hundred and Nineteen Thousand (119,000) tablets and capsules of tramadol, D5 and Exol5 were recovered from two drug dealers, Nasiru Abubakar, 22, and Umaru Bayero a.k.a Hadiza when NDLEA operatives raided their stores at the Gombe main market on Tuesday 6th Sept.
“In Kogi, a suspect, Paul Ali, 47, was arrested along Okene-Abuja highway with 1,404 bottles of Codeine based syrup weighing 190.94kg and 2,040 ampoules of pentazocine injection coming from Onitsha to Sokoto. A follow up operation in Sokoto has also led to the arrest of the receiver of the consignment on Tuesday 6th Sept,” Babafemi added.
Also, a raid at the cannabis plantation camp in Emure forest, Owo LGA, Ondo State led to the arrest of Monday Onoja, 20; Daniel Kehinde, 25; and Obinna Okechukwu, 35, where sixteen (16) bags of the illicit substance weighing 179.5kg were seized from them.
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