NDLEA ARRESTS SUSPECT WITH COCAINE INGESTION BOUND FOR CHINA

Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 62-year-old Lagos-based businessman after tests showed he had ingested 95 wraps of cocaine while attempting to travel to China, the agency said.

The suspect, Nwabueze Izueke, was arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport during the outward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight bound for China via Addis Ababa, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said.

A body scan conducted on Izueke tested positive for illicit drugs, after which he was placed under medical observation. He later excreted 95 jumbo-sized wraps of cocaine weighing 1.589 kilograms, Babafemi said.

Izueke, who told investigators he trades in clothing and auto spare parts in Lagos, said he turned to drug trafficking to raise funds to complete a house he is building in his hometown of Iwollo in Enugu State.

In separate operations, NDLEA operatives intercepted consignments of methamphetamine concealed in MP3 speakers being transported from Enugu to Abuja and Kaduna. Four suspects: Ebube Okeke, Evans Ugwu, Mohammed Eze Arinze, and Friday Michael were arrested, the agency said.

The agency also recovered 627.7 kilograms of skunk from a makeshift warehouse within Fums Plaza in Kubwa, Abuja.

In Taraba State, NDLEA said it arrested a suspect, Yusuf Abubakar, who was transporting packs of Hollandia yoghurt from Lagos to Mubi in Adamawa State. Tests confirmed that the yoghurt packs concealed methamphetamine.

Meanwhile, in Ibadan, Oyo State, NDLEA operatives raided a facility allegedly used to produce a synthetic cannabis known as Colorado and arrested a suspected drug kingpin, Jimoh Nurudeen, along with his accomplice, Ogundipe Yusuf.

Items recovered from the site included precursor chemicals, skunk, drug production equipment, 7.4 million naira ($8,000) in cash, and two vehicles, the agency said.

In Kwara State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a fuel tanker transporting petrol from Lagos to Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria, where nearly 4,000 capsules of tramadol were found concealed in the truck. The driver was arrested.

The agency said additional arrests and seizures were recorded in Enugu, Badagry in Lagos State, Ikun Akoko in Ondo State and Imo State, where a couple was arrested with 203 kilograms of skunk.