NDLEA Arrests Two Suspects with Cocaine at Lagos Airport

NDLEA Arrests Two Suspects with Cocaine at Lagos Airport

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two Nigerians ‎with substance suspected to be cocaine.

One of them is an importer of electronics on his way to Hong Kong ‎while the other lives in Athens, Greece.

The arrests were made at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos during the screening of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight to Hong Kong and Egypt Airline flight to Athens.

NDLEA said preliminary investigation suggested that the suspects had targeted the Christmas holiday to smuggle cocaine out of the country but drug law enforcement officials at the Lagos airport were able to uncover their plan. The total weight of cocaine seized from the suspects is 1.150kilogrammes.

According to the NDLEA Commander at the Lagos airport, Ahmadu Garba, an importer of electronics by name Achebe Chuks David, 37, excreted 45 wraps of cocaine he ingested weighing 935 grammes while Ndukwe Daniel, 43, who lives in Athens excreted five wraps of cocaine weighing 215 grammes.

"Both suspects tested positive for narcotic , and while under observation, they expelled wraps of cocaine which they had wanted to smuggle out of the country.

The agency said suspects were currently under investigation‎, remarking that there were high expectations of both suspects making quick money this festive season from drug trafficking, but the agency had dashed that hope by vigilant anti-narcotic officers.

According to NDLEA, David said he was expecting N5 million from his cocaine partners.

"I sell electronics at Alaba market. This is my first time of dealing in drugs. My friend in Hong Kong introduced me to cocaine smuggling. He sent the drug to me at Alaba through a young man. The cocaine was in a black polythene bag containing plantain and pineapples. I swallowed the 45 wraps in my toilet without my wife's knowledge. I was promised the sum of N5 million which I had wanted to use in importing electronics. At the airport, they told me that scanning machine has indicated that I have drugs on me. That was how I was arrested," he said.

Achebe hails from Anambra State and is married with a daughter.

Ndukwe Daniel said he was asked to smuggle five wraps of cocaine for N250, 000. "I have lived in Athens for over a decade. I lost my job last year and things have been very bad financially. I came to Nigeria to visit my wife and two children. I had no plan to smuggle drugs until a friend called me from Athens that I should bring five wraps of cocaine. Since it is only five wraps, I felt it will be an easy task. He sent someone to give me the wraps in Umuahia. I inserted the five wraps in my anus in Lagos but the scanning machine was able to detect it. I feel very sad" Daniel who hails from Abia stated.