National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says it has arrested a 52-year-old businessman, Ejiofor Godwin Emeka, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria.
NDLEA, in a statement on Sunday, by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi said Emeka was caught after a body scan revealed 127 wraps of cocaine hidden inside his body.
The suspect, who reportedly owns clothing shops in Lagos and Onitsha, arrived in Nigeria from Bangkok, Thailand, on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 941 on October 8. The cocaine, weighing 1.388 kilograms, was found concealed in his stomach and private parts.
After the discovery, NDLEA officers placed him under close watch until he excreted some of the cocaine pellets, confirming the smuggling attempt.
The anti-narcotic agency in a separate operation in Lagos intercepted three packages of illegal drugs headed to the United Kingdom. The parcels, seized from a courier company, contained methamphetamine, tramadol, pentazocine, and cannabis cleverly hidden in glass ceramics, vitamin bottles, and herbal packs.
NDLEA also arrested several suspects, including a freight agent and a cab driver, over another shipment of rohypnol pills bound for South Africa.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers in different states continued their raids. In Edo, they recovered 47 kilograms of skunk during a raid in Ugbekpe Ekperi. In Osun, two men were caught with 635 kilograms of skunk hidden in a vehicle. In Rivers State, officers seized 8.5 kilograms of the drug, while a suspect in Katsina was arrested with 29.5 kilograms of cannabis.
NDLEA stated that the arrests and seizures show the agency’s ongoing determination to fight drug trafficking and dismantle criminal networks across Nigeria.
