NDLEA gets widow with cocaine in footwears at Lagos airport

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 56-year-old widow and mother of four, Mrs. Ajisegiri Kehinde Sidika, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, for attempting to traffic 400 grams of cocaine concealed in her footwear to Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

The suspect, who claims to be a businesswoman trading in adult and children’s clothing on Lagos Island, was intercepted on Sunday, November 13th, while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight going to Saudi Arabia via Doha.

A statement by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy, said, “Upon a critical examination of the pair of sandals she was wearing, two parcels of cocaine weighing 400 grams were recovered from them.”

In the same vein, attempts by a tricycle parts seller, Ayoade Kehinde Tayo, to send 1 kg of Tramadol 225 mg and Rohypnol to Istanbul, Turkey, via Cairo on an EgyptAir flight the same day were also frustrated by NDLEA operatives, who arrested him.

He was at the airport to hand over the drugs hidden inside a bag of food items to an intending passenger, Idowu Ayoade, but was arrested before he succeeded in doing that.

An intending passenger to Oman via Asky Airlines, Agbamuche Bright Nkeonye, and a lady, Adeoye Oluwakemi Fatimo, who accompanied him to present a bag containing varieties of foodstuffs and body lotion that were used to conceal 1.10kg of cannabis and some Rohypnol capsules, were also arrested at the departure hall of the Lagos airport on Thursday, November 18th.

Anti-narcotics officers attached to the SAHCO export shed of the airport equally foiled attempts by traffickers to smuggle consignments of cannabis and ecstasy tablets concealed in three tubers of yam going to Dubai, UAE, on Wednesday, November 17th.

The freight agent who presented the yams for export, Inegbu Ugochi Akunna, was promptly arrested, while the consignor, Ahmodu Sulaimon, was also nabbed thereafter.

At the Brawal container shed of the Kirikiri lighter terminal in Lagos, NDLEA operatives equally intercepted cartons of deadly drinks in a container marked APZU3671697 during a joint examination with Customs.

Though the bill of lading indicated that the container originated from Cape Town, South Africa, a search of the shippers’ database showed it was loaded from Antwerp, Belgium.

A full inspection of the container on Thursday, November 18, showed a total of five cartons of beverages labeled “Euphoria cannabis beer” and three cartons of “Cannabis energy drink.” Other drinks in the container include: 21 cartons of a drink labeled “monkey shoulder,” 20 cartons of “dead man’s finger,” and 139 cartons of “champagne fruit,” among others.

Continuing, Babademi said, “In a related development, not less than 5.6 kilograms of methamphetamine, cocaine, and tramadol were discovered in items like play stations, bicycles, motor propellers, and local fabrics packaged for export to Australia and Cyprus through some courier firms in Lagos.”

“Two suspects, Gabriel Emeka and Vintura Grillo, have been arrested in a follow-up operation linked to one of the seizures.

“In Niger state, NDLEA operatives on stop and search operation along Mokwa-Jebba road on Saturday 12th Nov. arrested two suspects; Ismail Musa and Jidda Abbas with 10,780 bottles of Akuskura, a new psychoactive substance concealed inside two Toyota Camry saloon cars marked AGL 861 GS Lagos and KMK 118 SC Bayelsa. The consignment loaded in Ibadan, Oyo State, was going to Abuja for distribution.

“While operatives intercepted 25,000 capsules of Tramadol in Plateau and arrested the owner, Ifeanyi Nweanwe, a beer parlour operator in a follow up operation in Bauchi, pharmaceutical opioids worth more than N30million were intercepted in a commercial bus in Asaba, Delta state on Thursday 18th Nov.

“In Ondo state, operatives stormed the Ijare forest, in Ifedore LGA, on Friday, November 19, where a total of 600.5 kg of cannabis weed and seeds were recovered, while 142.8 kg of the same substance were seized when NDLEA officers raided the Zone 3 motor park in the Wuse area of Abuja.

“In the same vein, operatives on routine stop and search patrol along Owerri-Onitsha road arrested a suspect Nwankwo Emmanuel, with 25 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 12.5kgs in a commercial bus going to Port Harcourt from Lagos.

In his reaction to the arrests and seizures in the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Tincan, Delta, FCT, Niger, Ondo, and Plateau Commands, as well as those of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations, DOGI, for their passion, commitment, and remarkable efforts to get results in their areas of responsibility.

He enjoined them and their compatriots across the country to stay focused and resilient in the pursuit of the agency’s corporate goal.

GOGAN TV