Abuja: Vietnam-bound bizman excretes 88 cocaine wraps
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Vietnam-bound businessman, Paul Okwuy Mbadugha, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja after he tested positive for ingestion of cocaine.
It was learnt in a statement on Sunday by the Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, that the 54-year-old suspect was intercepted at the boarding gate of the Abuja airport on August 12, 2024, during the outward clearance of the Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam via Doha. After four days under excretion observation, Mbadugha ingested a total of 88 wraps of the illicit drug with a gross weight of 1.710 kilograms.
According to the NDLEA, Mbadugha, in his statement, claimed that he is a Lagos-based businessman and that he was given the cocaine pellets to swallow by a friend in the Isolo area of Lagos State for onward delivery in Vietnam for a fee of $2,000.
Babafemi also disclosed that several arrests and busts had been made by the agency in various locations across Nigeria. At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, 800g of cannabis concealed in noodles destined for Congo was intercepted while a large consignment of Loud (a synthetic cannabis strain) from Canada was recovered, weighing 65.80kg and a suspect, Desalu Taophic Temitope, who claimed he was promised $10,000 for the delivery, was arrested.
At the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N6,246,800,000 were recovered from five containers shipped from India.
In Ekiti State, 21,800kg of cannabis sativa was destroyed on a 20-hectare farmland while 200.2kg of cannabis was recovered from a bus in Enugu State, and the driver was arrested.
In Kano State, 145,400 pills of tramadol were seized, and two suspects were arrested.
In Ogun State, the NDLEA stated that a cannabis plantation on six hectares was raided, and four suspects were arrested. At Abuja, 30,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection were recovered from a truck, and three suspects were arrested. In Niger State, 28,500 pills of tramadol concealed in a loudspeaker were seized, and a suspect was arrested while in Kogi State, 40,000 pills of tramadol were seized, and a suspect was arrested.
It further stated that in Lokoja, 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection were recovered, and a suspect was intercepted.
“The NDLEA officers at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, intercepted a shipment of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 800 grams concealed in noodles going to Congo. A follow-up operation at the Alaba International Market, Ojo area of Lagos led to the arrest of the sender of the consignment, Nnamani Sunday Sunny, who deals in GSM handsets.
“A large consignment of Loud imported from Canada has been recovered by the NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport. A suspect, Desalu Taophic Temitope, who arrived on board an Air France flight with six boxes was arrested by anti-narcotic officers during a joint examination by security agencies at the arrival hall.
“A total of 65.80 kilograms of the psychoactive substance were recovered from four of the six suitcases. In his statement, Desalu said he and an accomplice currently at large were promised $10,000 upon successful delivery of the shipment in Lagos.
“No fewer than 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N6,246,800,000 in street value were recovered from five containers by the NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State during a joint examination of the containers with men of the Nigeria Customs and other port stakeholders on Wednesday and Thursday, August 14 and 15, 2024. The bottles of the opioid were packed in 5,337 cartons with a gross weight of 133,860 kilograms and shipped in five containers from India.
“In Ekiti State, the NDLEA operatives supported by men of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies as well as community youths on Wednesday, August 14, raided the Ise forest reserve, Saalaja camp, Ise-Ekiti, where 21,800 kilograms of cannabis sativa on 20 hectares of farmland were destroyed. The following day, Thursday, August 15, the NDLEA officers on patrol along the Onitsha-Enugu road in Enugu State intercepted a Sienna bus marked SKA-24 AG from which 200.2kg of cannabis was recovered and the driver, Okoro Emmanuel, 41, was arrested.
“While the duo of Joseph Apeh, 45, and Diamond Nnabuike, 21, were arrested with 145,400 pills of tramadol on Monday, August 12, at the Gadar Tamburawa area of Kano, the NDLEA operatives in Ogun State on Tuesday, August 13, arrested 70-year-old Fidelis Egede and three others: Samuel Sylvanus, 31; Jato Samson, 33; and Francis Blessing, 28, when a cannabis plantation on six hectares was raided at Alaka village.
“In Abuja, the NDLEA officers on patrol along Kwali-Gwagwalada Expressway on Tuesday, August 13, intercepted a truck from which 30,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection were recovered and three suspects: Ifeanyi Sunday, Jeremiah Paul and Edet Ubokobong, were arrested.
