The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a businessman at the Port Harcourt International Airport in Rivers State for ingesting 53 wraps of cocaine.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, 44-year-old businessman Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka Christian was arrested on Saturday, June 7, while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Tehran Khomeini, Iran, via Doha.
A body scan confirmed drug ingestion, and under observation, Ezemokwe excreted 53 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.172kg in six rounds. The suspect confessed to operating in the drug trade for two years, moving between West Africa and Iran.
This arrest comes just two weeks after NDLEA operatives at Kano’s Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport intercepted a 60-year-old businessman heading to Iran with 65 pellets of cocaine.
In another major operation, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, in collaboration with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), intercepted a Europe-bound passenger, Edobor Ambrose Ali, in the early hours of Saturday, June 14. The Italy-based suspect was caught with 14,410 pills of tramadol (225mg and 200mg) concealed in winter jackets. He admitted to being paid €2,000 for the courier mission to Milan, Italy.
Meanwhile, in Rivers State, NDLEA officers at the Onne Ports in Port Harcourt intercepted a container carrying 157,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup, with a street value exceeding ₦1.1 billion. The codeine was cleverly concealed behind cartons of ceramic sanitary wares. The interception was carried out in partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
Read also:
- Expired, banned drugs found in secret factory in Delta
- NDLEA intercepts illicit drug consignment packaged as green tea at Lagos airport
- Amended NDLEA Act will boost drug war – Fagbemi, Marwa
In Cross River State, NDLEA raided a warehouse in Obereakai, Odukpani LGA, on Thursday, June 12, seizing 2,687kg of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis. Three suspects — Friday Achibong Joseph (47), Abraham Anthony Willy (21), and Utibe David Okon (24) — were arrested at the scene.
The same day, NDLEA operatives in Bauchi State arrested two men — Iriemi Imonikhe (49) and Sa’idu Ladan (30) — on the Bauchi-Jos highway with 287kg of skunk concealed in a Toyota Camry.
Also on June 12, the NDLEA Marine Command recovered 560kg of skunk from a wooden boat at Oniru Beach, Lagos. Simultaneously, officers at the Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, Maiduguri, arrested two businessmen — Ishaku Abdullahi (30) and Buba Usman (32) — with quantities of ecstasy pills and skunk packaged in branded wrappers labeled “Lychee” and “Porro Legal”.
The NDLEA’s social advocacy initiative, War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), also continued nationwide, with sensitization programs held in schools across Enugu, Ebonyi, Oyo, and Akwa Ibom States.
NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers across all commands for balancing drug supply reduction with demand reduction, praising their dedication and vigilance in the ongoing fight against drug abuse and trafficking.
