According to Babafemi, operatives arrested 38-year-old businesswoman, Iwebema Ogechi Peace, at the departure hall of Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport on June 21 while she was preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing, China.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its nationwide offensive against drug trafficking, intercepting a China-bound businesswoman with 7.5 kilograms of cocaine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
It also seized illicit drugs worth over ₦12.3 billion at the Apapa Port, and dismantling a syndicate that secretly plants narcotics in the luggage of unsuspecting passengers at motor parks.
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NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the latest breakthroughs in a statement issued on Sunday, detailing a series of coordinated operations that led to multiple arrests and major drug seizures across the country.
According to Babafemi, operatives arrested 38-year-old businesswoman, Iwebema Ogechi Peace, at the departure hall of Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport on June 21 while she was preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing, China.
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Acting on credible intelligence, officers searched her luggage and uncovered four large parcels of cocaine weighing 7.5 kilograms concealed in a professionally constructed false compartment.
The suspect reportedly told investigators she frequently travelled to China to purchase goods for sale in Nigeria.
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In another major operation, NDLEA operatives successfully intercepted a shipment of 4,959 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, concealed in a 40-foot container at the Apapa Port in Lagos. The illicit consignment, estimated to have a street value of ₦12.397 billion, was recovered during a joint examination involving the NDLEA, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
Babafemi said the Agency had tracked the container for more than four weeks from Toronto, Canada, through Montreal and Morocco before it eventually arrived in Lagos.
The anti-narcotics agency also uncovered a criminal syndicate that plants illicit drugs inside the luggage of unsuspecting passengers travelling by commercial buses.
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The operation began after NDLEA operatives intercepted a methamphetamine consignment concealed inside a passenger’s luggage aboard a Sienna bus travelling from Nnewi to Abuja. Although the passenger, Gloria Peter, denied ownership of the drugs, investigations led to the arrest of bus loaders, the driver, Abdurrazak Isah, and the alleged owner of the illicit consignment, Onyebuchi Victor Okoye. The recovered methamphetamine weighed 467.7 grams.
Babafemi further disclosed that operatives arrested 57-year-old Ikechukwu Uwakwe at Iddo Motor Park in Lagos while attempting to transport 209.5 kilograms of Scottish Loud to Enugu.
In another intelligence-led operation, NDLEA arrested two Beninese nationals, Hossou Tito Julien and Mancellim Dossou, alongside Nigerian accomplice Jackson ThankGod, after intercepting a truck transporting 558,900 pills of Tramadol 250mg concealed inside a specially fabricated compartment.
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Two additional suspects, Lucky Abonga and Osas Azamobo, were also apprehended along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while transporting 118 kilograms of skunk concealed among legitimate goods heading to Onitsha.
Meanwhile, Helen Ese Idiji and Rashidat Sa’adullah were arrested in the Amukoko area of Lagos, where operatives recovered 28.8 kilograms of skunk. Investigations revealed that the drugs were stored at Rashidat’s residence before distribution to customers.
Babafemi said the Agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign through sensitisation programmes in schools and communities across several states.
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Commending officers involved in the successful operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel nationwide to remain resolute in combining aggressive drug supply reduction with sustained public enlightenment efforts against drug abuse.
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