NDLEA seizes N4.5bn cocaine at Lagos airport

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled an attempt by members of an international drug syndicate that operates between Brazil, Ethiopia and Nigeria to smuggle 845 wraps of cocaine consignments weighing 18.72kgs into Lagos through Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja. The drug consignments worth N4.5bn in street value were recovered […]

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled an attempt by members of an international drug syndicate that operates between Brazil, Ethiopia and Nigeria to smuggle 845 wraps of cocaine consignments weighing 18.72kgs into Lagos through Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja.

The drug consignments worth N4.5bn in street value were recovered from two lavatories of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft during the post landing cleaning of the cabin of flight ET900 from Addis Ababa to Lagos on Tuesday, October 29, 2024.

Spokesman for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said that the illicit drug consignments were wrapped in nine polythene bags and concealed in the waste collectors in the two rear lavatories of the aircraft, from where they were recovered after the MMIA Strategic Command of the NDLEA was alerted to the strange objects.

“No fewer than 30 suspects have so far been grilled in connection with the seizure.

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“Investigations revealed that the seized drugs were conveyed from Brazil to Ethiopia through ingestion and excreted in Addis Ababa by a set of couriers while some other traffickers picked them up and attempted to smuggle them into Nigeria through the Lagos airport before their attempt was frustrated with the cooperation of the airline’s authorities and other airport stakeholders,” Babafemi said.

In the same vein, attempts by some drug trafficking syndicates to export 2.928kgs cocaine, cannabis and tramadol 225mg concealed in body cream containers, and pieces of art work to Australia, United Arab Emirate (UEA) and United Kingdom (UK) through some courier companies in Lagos were also blocked by NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), on Monday, October 28.

At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday intercepted 754,000 pills of tapentadol and acetaminophen 225mg worth N525m in a targeted and watch-listed container from India during a joint examination with men of Customs Service and other security agencies.

In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a suspect Mujahid Hamisu, 24, was arrested with 147,000 pills of tramadol concealed in black nylon bags containing plumbing materials along Kwali-Gwagwalada Abuja expressway on his way from Onitsha, Anambra State on Saturday, while another suspect Seun Abimbola, 47, was nabbed by NDLEA operatives same day with 512 grams of methamphetamine during a raid operation at Giri junction area of the FCT.

In Kogi State, NDLEA officers on patrol along Kabba-Obajana highway arrested Mercy Ameh, 28, in a commercial bus travelling from Lagos to Abuja while a search of her luggage led to the recovery of fake N4.4million cash.

Another suspect, Shaibu Dahiru, 27, was nabbed in a vehicle coming from Lagos to Katsina along Lokoja-Okene-Abuja road on Thursday, with 68 blocks of cannabis weighing 27.400kgs.

A suspected notorious drug dealer Usman Abba (alias Timaya), who had been on the watchlist of the Katsina State Command of the NDLEA, was on Wednesday arrested at Kofar Kaura with consignments of Arizona, a strain of cannabis.

Same day, NDLEA operatives in Adamawa State arrested a suspect Augustine Dike, 31, with 50.3 grams of methamphetamine at Jimeta.

In Taraba State, operatives on Friday arrested Danlami Fakwa, 46, at Sabon Gari, Jalingo LGA, with 49.795kgs cannabis, while a total of 561kgs of same substance was recovered from a Sienna bus at Ogbese village in Ondo State on Monday.

A suspect Kabiru Yusuf, 25, was on Saturday, October 2, arrested in possession of 51,813 pills of tramadol and exol 5 at NDA Bus Stop, Kaduna State, just as raids in Edo State led to the seizure of 603.6kgs cannabis at Farm road, Ekiadolor and 308.4kgs of same substance at Uroe community.