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NDLEA Intercepts two boats loaded with illicit drug consignments
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 48-year-old businessman, Orizu Ifeanyi Arthur, for attempting to board Air France flight 844 from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, to Paris, France, after ingesting 74 wraps of heroin and cocaine.
Orizu was apprehended at the boarding gate of the Abuja airport on Sunday, 22nd December 2024, during the outward clearance of passengers on Air France. When subjected to a body scan request, he declined, claiming a medical condition prevented compliance.
A statement by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, revealed that Orizu was subsequently taken into custody for excretion observation, during which he excreted a total of 74 wraps of Class A drugs over seven days.
In his statement, Orizu claimed he owned a shop at Balogun Market, Lagos Island, where he sold school and travel bags. He admitted he had been promised €3,000 upon successful delivery of the consignment in Paris. He travelled from Lagos to the Abuja airport, hoping to escape detection.
In another interdiction effort, operatives of the Marine Command of NDLEA intercepted two boats loaded with 1,960 kilograms of “Ghanaian Loud,” a strong strain of cannabis, at Eleko Beach in the Lekki area of Lagos at 2:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, 24th December. Six foreign nationals who transported the consignments from Ghana were arrested during the operation. They include two Ghanaians: Godsway John (38) and Freedom Kelvin (33); and four Beninese: Chegoun Hounsou (23), Gadabor Nyameto (47), Adantg Sasa (34), and Ayao Kayivi (21).
In Katsina, a suspect, Ibrahim Shaibu (35), was arrested on Christmas Day, 25th December, at Central Motor Park, Katsina, in possession of 40 album-size parcels of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 35 kg. Another suspect, Umar Ahmed (47), was apprehended along the Zaria-Malumfashi Road, Katsina, with 27 parcels of the same psychoactive substance, weighing 13.5 kg, on Saturday, 28th December.
Additionally, a 21-year-old suspect, Kosisochukwu Ozigbo, was arrested on New Lagos Road, Benin City, Edo State, during a raid conducted by NDLEA operatives on Monday, 23rd December. Recovered from the suspect were 32,490 pills of tramadol (225 mg, 200 mg, and 100 mg), 936 bottles of codeine-based syrup, and various quantities of other opioids.
Commands across the country complemented their drug supply reduction operations with the “War Against Drug Abuse” (WADA) advocacy campaigns in schools, markets, worship centres, and communities.
Some of these included a WADA sensitisation lecture delivered by the Lagos State Strategic Command, in collaboration with Menitos Foundation, to residents of Akoka community at Ayetoro Primary School, Akoka Bariga. Similarly, the Adamawa State Command of NDLEA delivered the lecture to members of Jama’atul Nasril Islam during their annual first aid group and leadership camping in Adamawa, among other activities.
While commending the efforts of the officers and men of NAIA, Katsina, Edo, and Marine Commands of the Agency for their work over the past week, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), urged them and their colleagues nationwide not to rest on their achievements in 2024 but to continue raising the bar in their offensive actions against drug barons and cartels, alongside equal measures of WADA sensitisation campaigns in the new year.