June 26, (THEWILL) – Oprratives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have arrested a Brazilian returnee, Igwedum Uche Benson, with pellets of cocaine concealed in his private part.
A statement issued by NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, said Igwedum was arrested on Monday, 20th June, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, upon his arrival on Ethiopian Airlines from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa.
Babafemi said preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect had swallowed 50 wraps of cocaine before departing Brazil and excreted 48 pellets in Addis Ababa where he handed them over to another person.
“He, however, claimed he was unable to excrete the remaining two wraps at the hotel room in Addis Ababa before boarding his flight, but later excreted them in the aircraft restroom during the flight from Ethiopia to Lagos”, he said.
Babafemi said in the same vein, after three weeks of painstaking investigation and tracking, operatives of the MMIA command of NDLEA on Saturday night, 25th June, arrested a drug kingpin, Onyekachi Chukwuma Macdonald, behind attempts to export 40 parcels of Methamphetamine, popularly called Mkpuru Mmiri, locally to London, United Kingdom, through the NAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport.
“Onyekachi was arrested at Manacola estate, Alakuko area of Lagos at the weekend, three weeks after his Mkpuru Mmiri consignment weighing 2.05kilograms was intercepted at the airport and his freight agent, Peter Christopher Anikan arrested on 7th June.
“During his interview, the suspect said he is from Ahiazu, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo state and had lived in Dubai, UAE, for 10 years before returning to Nigeria in 2019.
“He stated that after his return to Nigeria, he opened a phone accessories shop in Sango Otta, Ogun state, but the business collapsed. He then started sending cigarettes to London and decided to conceal the illicit drug in the consignment after advice by a friend”, he said.
He said closely related was the seizure of another consignment of 2kg Mkpuru Mmiri at a courier house in Owerri, Imo state.
“The cargo seized on Wednesday, 22nd June, had ankara and lace fabrics, in which two cylindrical cellophanes containing the drug heading to Hong Kong were concealed.
“Also at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 24th June, intercepted 500,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg packed in 10 cartons and labelled Tramaking imported from Karachi, Pakistan on Emirates Airline. The consignment weighing 407.60kg was seized during a joint examination with Customs and NAFDAC officials.
“Same day, a Dubai, UAE-bound passenger, Alegbeleye Taiwo, was arrested at the departure hall of the MMIA with 40 ampoules of pentazocine injection. The 21-year-old suspect claims he’s from Osun state”, he said.
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