The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two Nigerians residing in Europe after they allegedly swallowed 200 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.46 kilogrammes while attempting to travel from Abuja to Paris, France.
The suspects, identified as Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were apprehended on Wednesday, October 28, during the screening of passengers boarding an Air France flight, AF 832, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the suspects were intercepted after body scans revealed foreign objects in their stomachs.
According to Babafemi, Odife, who resides in France and works in a factory, had returned to Nigeria for a short holiday on October 21 before attempting to travel back to Europe.
He said the suspect admitted to ingesting 110 wraps of cocaine, which he subsequently excreted under medical observation.
The statement quoted Babafemi as saying, “He was, however, arrested by NDLEA operatives on his return flight a few days later, when he was subjected to a body scan, which confirmed the presence of foreign objects in his stomach.
“Under interview, he admitted to having ingested 110 pellets of cocaine. He was placed under observation during which he excreted all 110 wraps, which tested positive for cocaine with a total weight of 1.901 kilogrammes.”
The agency added that Blackborn also tested positive during a body scan and confessed to swallowing 90 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.559 kilogrammes, all of which were recovered under observation.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA reported additional drug seizures and arrests in different parts of the country.
In Lagos, operatives recovered 976 kilogrammes of cannabis from two commercial buses, while two suspects, Oguntona Nasiru, 46, and Soji Balogun, 47, were arrested in Oyo State for allegedly loading 554 kilogrammes of cannabis into a truck along Idere Road, Igboora.
In Kano, the agency recovered 247,500 tablets of diazepam and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 during a raid in the Tsamiya area of Gezawa. Two other suspects were also arrested in Dorayi with 19,250 tramadol pills.
The agency further disclosed that a woman, Aisha Isah, was arrested along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway with 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition.
In another operation along the Zaria-Kano Expressway, a 68-year-old man, Ifeanyi Egwolonwu, was apprehended with thousands of controlled pharmaceutical substances, including 2,770 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 100 ampoules of diazepam injection, 11,000 diazepam tablets and 4,500 Exol-5 tablets.
Reacting to the arrests, the NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), warned Nigerians living abroad against engaging in international drug trafficking.
He said, “The interception of the two cocaine couriers at Abuja airport is a fresh warning to those who think they can use their residence abroad as cover to traffic drugs across Nigerian borders.”
Marwa added that the agency had strengthened surveillance at the country’s entry and exit points.
“There is no hiding place for anyone who chooses to risk their life and liberty by ingesting illicit drugs for a fee,” he stated.
He commended NDLEA personnel in Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ondo, Oyo and Edo states for their recent operations and urged them to sustain efforts against drug trafficking and intensify public awareness campaigns under the War Against Drug Abuse initiative.
