The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday arrested a man for allegedly inserting five wraps of cocaine inside his anus at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Ndukwe Daniel, 43, from Abia State, who lives in Athens excreted five wraps of cocaine weighing 215 grammes which tested positive for narcotic ingestion while undergoing observation by NDLEA investigators.
According to NDLEA preliminary investigation suggests that the suspect had targeted the Christmas holiday to smuggle cocaine out of the country but his plan was thwarted.
Daniel claimed that he was asked to smuggle the drug 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,” he said.
Also yesterday, NDLEA arrested an electronics importer on his way to Hong Kong for allegedly ingesting cocaine.
He was arrested during screening of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight to Hong Kong.
The total weight of cocaine seized from the two suspects is 1.150kgs.
Lagos airport NDLEA Commander Ahmadu Garba identified the suspect as Achebe Chuks David, 37. He said the suspect excreted 45 wraps of cocaine weighing 935 grammes.
David said he was expecting N5 million from his partners.
He said: “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 by 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 five million naira 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.”
Achebe hails from Anambra State and is married with a daughter.
“Both suspects tested positive for narcotic ingestion and while under observation, they expelled wraps of cocaine which they had wanted to smuggle out of the country. The suspects are currently under investigation,” Ahmadu said.
NDLEA’s Chairman/Chief Executive, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (rtd) said those seeking to get rich through drug trafficking would end up in prison.
He said: “This is a warning to drug traffickers that the agency is determined to detect all hidden drugs and prosecute offenders.
“There are control measures in place to detect narcotics at all exit and entry points. We shall continue to improve on our strategies in line with our mission of providing a safe and healthy society for all.”
Tag: drug suspects
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Two drug suspects held at airport
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Judge: 20 drug suspects abscond
•Convict bags five-year jail term
No fewer than 20 suspected drug dealers, who were arraigned at the Federal High Court in Lagos and granted bail have absconded, Justice Mojisola Olatoregun-Ishola said yesterday.
The judge issued a bench warrant for two of them.
Justice Olatoregun-Ishola, who is the administrative judge, said she got reports from other judges that some suspects charged by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have not been showing up for trial.
She condemned the development, saying the lawyers representing such suspects should be held liable.
Addressing a defence counsel, Mrs O. Ogunleye, whose client was absent, the judge said: “You have over 20 absconded defendants. All the courts have something to say about your office.”
The judge said lawyers should be concerned with their credibility, adding: “It is your credibility that will stand you in good stead.”
But, Ogunleye said she did not know why her client failed to turn up, adding that she was unable to reach him.
“I don’t know why he’s not in court. Sincerely, we don’t tell them to not to come to court,” she said.
Another defence counsel, Benson Ndakara, said his client was absent because she had a surgery “as a result of breast cancer”.
He exhibited a letter from the Federal Medical Centre authenticating his claim.
The judge told Ndakara: “Of 1,000 cases missing, you brought a letter from one. You have tried.”
Justice Olatoregun-Ishola convicted Ikechukwu Ojukwu, who pleaded guilty to dealing in cannabis sativa.
After a review of the case by NDLEA counsel Jerry Aernan, the convict pleaded with the judge for mercy.
“I find you guilty as charged and I convict you. I have mercy on you, but the law has no mercy on convicts,” she said.
Although the offence attracts a life sentence, Justice Olatoregun-Ishola sentenced Ojukwu to five years imprisonment with an option of N5million fine. -
Three drug suspects remanded in prison
Justice Babs Kuewumi of the Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday remanded Emeka Paul Ezeanya, 56, and two others in prison for alleged cocaine and heroin trafficking.
The others are Edwin Obi and Rashidat Olanike AbdulRasheed.
Ezeanya is standing trial for alleged of cocaine trafficking, Obi is accused of heroin trafficking and AbdulRasheed is said to have smuggling cocaine and heroin.
The charges were preferred against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The prosecutor, Mr Austin Nwagu, informed said Ezeanya was arrested by the NDLEA after he was found with 1.47 kilogrammes of cocaine at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos.He said the defendant was a passenger on a plane from Brazil to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), which made an emergency landing in Ikeja.
Mrs. Juliana Emabo who is prosecuting Obi alleged that he was arrested with 1.575 kilogrammes of heroin, at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, last May 3, on his arrival from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
AbdulRasheed, her prosecutor, Mr Abu Ibrahim said, was arrested at the same airport, last May 18, with 970 grammes of heroin, and 155 grammes of cocaine, during an outward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline Flight to Guangzhou, China, through Addis-Ababa.
The defendants denied the charge.
Justice Kuewumi ordered them remanded in prison after rejecting their oral bail applications.
Ezeanya will be in custody till September 29; Obi and AbdulRaheed were remanded till September 28 and October 19.
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NDLEA arrests 186 drug suspects in Cross River
The Cross River Command of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested 186 drug suspects in 2015, it has been learnt.
Its State Commander, Mrs Anthonia Edeh, told reporters in Calabar, the state capital at the weekend that of the number, 169 were men and 17 women.
Mrs Edeh said the command also impounded 368,908 kilogrammes of various categories of hard drugs within the period under review.
She said: “Also, out of the hard drugs seized, 368,479 were cannabis sativa; 43,601 grammes of cocaine and nine grammes of psychotropic substance.”
The NDLEA commander said the Federal High Court, sitting in Calabar, last year, convicted 54 suspects to various terms of imprisonment, ranging from one to 15 years, for drug-related offences.
According to her, the command counselled and educated the public at schools, motor parks and markets on the dangers of hard drugs.
She said: “Ninety nine clients were counselled and reintegrated into the society while the public was sensitised on the inherent dangers of drug abuse and the need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”
The NDLEA commander sought the support of Cross River government and other stakeholders in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking.
She said: “There is also the need for the citizens to furnish the agency with information on illicit drug activities.”
Mrs Edeh assured that the command would, this year, accelerate its fight against drug trafficking.