NDLEA seizes N4.4billion worth cocaine at Lagos airport, grills 30 suspects

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said its operatives have thwarted the bid by members of an international drug syndicate that operates between Brazil, Ethiopia, and Nigeria to smuggle into Lagos a total of 845 wraps of cocaine weighing 18.72 kilograms at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja.

According to the NDLEA, the drug consignments, worth Four Billion Four Hundred and Ninety-Two Million Eight Hundred Thousand Naira (₦4,492,800,000) 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.

This was contained in a statement by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, on Sunday.

Babafemi disclosed that the illicit drug consignments were wrapped in nine polythene bags and hidden in the waste collectors in the two rear lavatories of the aircraft, from where they were recovered after the MMIA Strategic Command of NDLEA was alerted about the strange objects.

He stated that no fewer than 30 suspects have so far been interrogated in connection with the seizure.

Babafemi further added that 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.

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

According to the statement issued by Babafemi, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, October 29, intercepted 754,000 pills of tapentadol and acetaminophen (225 mg) worth Five Hundred and Twenty-Five Million Naira (₦525,000,000) in a targeted and watch-listed container from India during a joint examination with men of the Customs Service and other security agencies at the Apapa seaport in Lagos.

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 the Kwali-Gwagwalada Abuja expressway while on his way from Onitsha, Anambra State, on Saturday, November 2, 2024. Another suspect, Seun Abimbola, 47, was nabbed by NDLEA operatives on the 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 the Kabba-Obajana highway arrested Mercy Ameh, 28, in a commercial bus traveling from Lagos to Abuja. A search of her luggage led to the recovery of fake Naira notes worth Four Million, Three Hundred and Fifty-Three Thousand, Two Hundred Naira (₦4,353,200). Another suspect, Shaibu Dahiru, 27, was nabbed in a vehicle coming from Lagos to Katsina along the Lokoja-Okene-Abuja road on Thursday, October 30, with 68 blocks of cannabis weighing 27.400 kg.

A notorious drug dealer, Usman Abba (alias Timaya), who has been on the watchlist of the Katsina State command of NDLEA, was arrested on Wednesday, October 30, at Liberty Hotel, Kofar Kaura, with consignments of Arizona, a strain of cannabis. On the same day, NDLEA operatives in Adamawa arrested a suspect, Augustine Dike, 31, with 50.3 grams of methamphetamine at Quarisa Hotel, Jimeta.

In Taraba, operatives on Friday, November 1, arrested Danlami Fakwa, 46, at Sabon Gari, Jalingo LGA, with 49.795 kg of cannabis, while a total of 561 kg of the same substance was recovered from a Sienna bus at Ogbese village in Ondo State on Monday, October 28.

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

Reacting to the developments, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of MMIA, DOGI, Apapa, Kogi, FCT, Adamawa, Katsina, Kaduna, Ondo, Taraba, and Edo Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week.

Marwa also applauded their compatriots in all the commands across the country for intensifying the WADA sensitization lectures and advocacy messages to every part of their areas of responsibility.