The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended Udechukwu Ekene Theophilus, a individual who recently returned from Brazil, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos. He was taken into custody for swallowing 60 large wraps of cocaine.
The individual, apprehended during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the D-Arrival Hall of the Lagos airport on Sunday, January 21, 2024, initially resisted undergoing a body scan, expressing health concerns in an attempt to avoid arrest.
Upon being presented with alternative options, he agreed to be placed under excretion observation. Shortly after being taken to the NDLEA observatory, he expelled the initial set of cocaine pellets. Subsequently, he discharged a total of 60 wraps of the class A drug, weighing 1.279 kilograms, in five excretions.
In his statement, Udechukwu asserted that he had ingested the consignment in Brazil with the intention of discharging everything at the airport in Addis Ababa. However, he could only excrete 15 pellets, which he handed over to another member of his syndicate before boarding his connecting flight to Nigeria.
Similarly, on Tuesday, January 23rd, NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport successfully retrieved twelve (12) cartons of tramadol 225mg. The seizure comprised five hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred (599,900) pills, weighing 385.40kg, from an overstayed cargo at the SAHCO import shed of the Lagos airport. This recovery was the result of a collaborative examination with other agencies.
The tramadol shipment entered the country in two separate batches on KLM Royal Dutch Airline flights from Karachi, Pakistan, between July 27th and August 1st, 2023. NDLEA operatives had been monitoring the consignment since its arrival.
Meanwhile, at a fuel station situated in Ashipa community along the Badagry-Seme road, operatives of the Seme Special Area Command of NDLEA uncovered not less than 822 kilograms of cannabis sativa. Simultaneously, a suspect named Sani Audu, aged 35, was apprehended with 111.3kg of the same substance in Maigatari town, Jigawa State, on Tuesday, January 23rd.
In Yobe State, Mohammed Usman and Adamu Ma’azu were apprehended on Saturday, January 27th, with 49 blocks of cannabis sativa, totaling 50kg, at Damaturu motor park in Damaturu. Additionally, Paul Obor, 38, and Dennis Fuokorighe, 48, were arrested on Wednesday, January 24th, at a Navy checkpoint in Itobe, Ofu LGA, Kogi State. They were found in possession of 318 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa, weighing 190.8kg, concealed in a gold-colored Honda Accord Car marked RBC 449AE. The Nigeria Navy Ship, Lugard, Lokoja, handed them over to the Kogi state command of the Agency on Friday, January 26th.
Similarly, Shamwilu Idris, 29, was apprehended in the Gadar Tamburawa area of Kano State on Thursday, January 25th, with 271kg of cannabis. This followed the discovery of an abandoned 28.1kg of the same substance in the Rijiyar Lemo area of the state on Wednesday, January 24th.
In another incident, Abubakar Haruna Salisu, 24, was captured in the Kotun Wambai, Yan Awaki, area of Kano on Friday, January 26th, with 600 bottles of codeine-based syrup. Additionally, the Police seized a total of 1,306 blocks of cannabis weighing 886kg at Kwanar Dangora, in the state, which were transferred to the Agency on Wednesday, January 24th.
A total of 87 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa, weighing 73kg, along with 21,346 pills of tramadol and 3,800 tablets of diazepam, were seized from Musa Galadima on Friday, January 26th, when NDLEA operatives intercepted his DAF truck marked GME 971 XD at Lafiyawo along the Gombe–Bauchi road.
In Plateau State, Aminu Ubanta, aged 35, was apprehended on Saturday, January 27th, with 5.355kg of cannabis in the Layin Zana area of Jos.
Meanwhile, Ms. Aderinoye Queen Christmas, also known as Ms. Queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye, a former beauty queen, has been declared wanted by the Agency. She managed to escape from her residence in Lekki, Lagos when NDLEA operatives conducted a raid on her apartment at Oral Estate on Wednesday, January 24th. The raid was prompted by credible intelligence indicating that the ex-beauty queen was involved in illicit substance dealings.
Ms. Aderinoye, the former Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture 2015/2016 and founder of the Queen Christmas Foundation, had her home searched, revealing 606 grams of Canadian Loud (a synthetic strain of cannabis), an electronic weighing scale, substantial quantities of drug packaging materials, a black RAV 4 SUV marked Lagos KSF 872 GQ, and her picture frame, among other items.
In a separate incident, two individuals linked to an international drug trafficking syndicate, namely Sunday Michael Owoborode, 52, and Valentine Anene, were apprehended on Thursday, January 25th, at Edu Orita in Ogun State. Valentine was in the process of preparing to travel with narcotics to Qatar on the same day via a Qatar airline flight from Lagos. At the time of their arrest, they were found in possession of 1.8kg of cannabis, an electronic weighing scale, and other illicit substances.
In another operation conducted by operatives in Lagos, a 50-year-old individual named Sunday Adediran was arrested on Wednesday, January 24th, with 20kg of cannabis sativa discovered in one of the rooms of his residence in Mushin Olosha.
The various commands of the Agency throughout the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign with equal determination over the past week.
Several activities were conducted as part of the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, including a sensitization lecture held at Government Day Primary and Secondary School in Jiddel Michika, Adamawa State. Similar lectures were organized for students of Soltab Comprehensive College in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and for pupils and teachers at Sangotedo Primary School in Ajah, Lagos State. Additionally, WADA advocacy efforts reached pupils and teachers at ADS Basic Primary School 1&2 in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, and students and teachers at Farfanu Malami Community Secondary School in Magama Jibia, Katsina State. The campaign also included a WADA advocacy visit to His Royal Highness, Dr. Gibson Nwabueze Nwosu, Eze Uzu II of Awka, Anambra State, among other engagements.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), extended commendations to the officers and personnel of MMIA, Lagos, Seme, Kano, Gombe, Kogi, Plateau, and Jigawa Commands for their exceptional achievements in the past week. He also expressed appreciation to their counterparts in all commands nationwide for their diligent efforts in intensifying WADA advocacy lectures, effectively balancing drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.