Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a businessman, Osuoha Iheanacho, 50, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for ingesting 90 wraps of cocaine.
Osuoha was intercepted on November 20 at the arrival hall of the Enugu airport during screening of passengers arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, following months of intelligence and surveillance on him.
A weekly update by the agency revealed that the suspect was subsequently placed on excretion observation during which he excreted 90 pellets of cocaine weighing 2.019 kilograms.
Investigation by the NDLEA revealed that the suspect who operated a phone and accessories business in Lagos and Gabon, Central Africa, travelled by road from Gabon to Douala, Cameroon, from where he took a flight to Addis Ababa.
He swallowed the pellets of cocaine, according to the agency, while in transit and thereafter continued his journey to Enugu with Lagos as his final destination.
“He deliberately complicated his movement to distort traces of his travel history unknown to him that he has been on the NDLEA watchlist for the past three months.
“In his statement, Osuoha said he desperately needed the money from the criminal drug trade to boost his declining phone and accessories business,” the agency noted.
In another operation, the NDLEA arrested the head of a cocaine distribution cartel, Ndive Obinna, 42, along with five of his associates at Ago Palace Way in Okota, Lagos State.
The November 21 operation also led to the recovery of a total of 2.412 kilograms of cocaine from the syndicate.
”Other members of the drug trafficking organization arrested along Obinna include: Okeke Gloria Ifeoma who is the syndicate’s stash keeper; Ikechebelu Emmanuel Chibuzor; Okorie Onyedikachi; Okonkwo Nnabugo Prince; and Okafor Blessing Anita.”
In a related development, the operatives destabilised another drug syndicate operated by a Chinese man, 58, Tianzhen Yen (alias Jackie) following his arrest at his hotel in the Ikeja area of Lagos.
The agency noted that based on credible intelligence, its Seme Special Area Command had intercepted one suspect, Yakubu Mark, 40, in a commercial bus going to Ghana at the Gbaji checkpoint along the Badagry-Seme expressway.
“When he was searched, a total of 750 grams of cocaine were found in his bag.
“A swift follow-up operation was organized to trace and arrest the kingpin behind the trans-border drug trafficking syndicate, who turned out to be a Chinese citizen, Tianzhen Yen.
“He was eventually traced to MC Hotel behind Alade market, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.
“When his hotel room was searched, 4.3 grams of cocaine; a gram of methamphetamine; two electronic weighing scales; and Chinese National Identification Number Card, among other exhibits were recovered while he was arrested in the vicinity of the hotel,” the agency said.
On the same day in Rivers, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports complex, Onne, intercepted two containers of imported opioids during a joint examination with men of the Customs Service and other security agencies.
A total of 168,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over N1.1m in street value, were recovered from one of the containers.
The second one, according to the agency contained 4,500,000 pills of super royal tramadol 225mg valued at N3.1bn bringing the combined value of both the codeine and tramadol consignments to over N4.3bn.