The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 50-year-old businessman, Osuoha Christian Iheanacho, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for ingesting 90 wraps of cocaine.
Osuoha was intercepted on November 20, 2024, at the arrival hall of the Enugu airport during the inbound screening of passengers arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
This follows months of intelligence and surveillance on him. He was subsequently placed on excretion observation, during which he egested 90 pellets of cocaine weighing 2.019 kilograms in seven excretions.
A statement by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, revealed that the suspect, who operates a phone and accessories business in Lagos and Gabon, Central Africa, traveled by road from Gabon to Douala, Cameroon.
From there, he flew to Addis Ababa, where he swallowed the pellets of cocaine while in transit before continuing his journey to Enugu, with Lagos as his final destination.
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He deliberately complicated his travel itinerary to obscure traces of his travel history, unaware that he had been on the NDLEA’s watchlist for the past three months.
In his statement, Osuoha admitted that he desperately needed the money from the criminal drug trade to revive his struggling phone and accessories business.
In another well-coordinated operation conducted by a Special Operations Unit of the Agency on Thursday, the head of a cocaine distribution cartel, 42-year-old Ndive Maxwell Obinna, was arrested along with five of his associates at Ago Palace Way in Okota, Isolo, Lagos. A total of 2.412 kilograms of cocaine was recovered from them.
Other members of the drug trafficking organization arrested alongside Obinna include Okeke Gloria Ifeoma, the syndicate’s stash keeper, Ikechebelu Emmanuel Chibuzor, Okorie Onyedikachi, Okonkwo Nnabugo Prince, and Okafor Blessing Anita.
In a related development, Babafemi stated that NDLEA operatives dismantled another drug syndicate operated by a Chinese man, 58-year-old Tianzhen Yen (alias Jackie), following his arrest at his hotel in the Ikeja area of Lagos State.
Officers of the Seme Special Area Command of the Agency had, on Thursday, intercepted a 40-year-old suspect, Yakubu Emmanuel Mark, in a commercial bus heading to Ghana at the Gbaji checkpoint along the Badagry-Seme expressway, based on credible intelligence.
When he was searched, a total of 750 grams of cocaine was found in his bag. A swift follow-up operation traced and arrested the kingpin behind the trans-border drug trafficking syndicate, identified as the Chinese citizen Tianzhen Yen.
He was eventually apprehended at MC Hotel, behind Alade Market, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.
The statement added that when his hotel room was searched, 4.3 grams of cocaine, 1 gram of methamphetamine, two electronic weighing scales, a Chinese National Identification Number card, and other exhibits were recovered. Yen was arrested in the hotel vicinity.
At the Tincan seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Friday intercepted 92 parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 23.25 kilograms, concealed in two vehicles imported from Canada: a Nissan car and a GMC bus.
The discovery was made during a joint examination of a container from Canada by NDLEA officers, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) personnel, and other stakeholders.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, on November 21 intercepted two containers of imported opioids during a joint examination with Customs Service personnel and other security agencies.
One container contained 168,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup valued at ₦1,176,000,000, while the second contained 4,500,000 pills of Super Royal Tramadol 225mg worth ₦3,150,000,000, bringing the combined value of the seized consignments to ₦4,326,000,000.
In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives on November 17 arrested a 50-year-old physically challenged woman, Mustapha Boja, with 286 grams of Colorado and Loud strains of cannabis at Araromi Street, Ikere-Ekiti. In Oyo State, 64 kilograms of cannabis sativa were recovered at Akinyele Motor Park, Ibadan, on November 21.
Additionally, 1,200.5 kilograms of the same psychoactive substance were seized during raids by NDLEA officers in parts of Edo State.
In the Utese forest, Ovia North East LGA, 463.5 kilograms were recovered on Thursday, while 507 kilograms were seized at a compound in Owan village, Ovia LGA.
Two suspects, David Ojo Ederin and Afoje Frank, were arrested on November 22. Another suspect, Godwin Okhoya, was nabbed with 230 kilograms of the substance at Okpuje, Owan West LGA.
In Kano, four suspects — Usman Sani, Abdul Mohd, Bunu Ali, and Umar Musa — were arrested on November 19 by NDLEA operatives at Gadar Tamburawa, Zaria-Kano Road, with 100 blocks of cannabis weighing 45 kilograms. Meanwhile, Ayuba Umar Zaranda was arrested with 124 kilograms of cannabis at Pengana village, Toro LGA, Bauchi State.
While commending the officers and men of various Agency Commands for their arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), noted that their operational successes, particularly their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and demand reduction efforts, were well appreciated.
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
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