Three traders, one other arrested as NDLEA intercepts Europe-bound 58kg cocaine, meth at Lagos and Abuja airports (videos)

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted consignments of illicit drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine and its precursor chemical, ephedrine going to the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand and Cyprus at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and some courier companies.

Spokesperson of the agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statemen on Sunday, February 19, 2023, said three traders at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo area of Lagos: Nwudele Basil Christopher; Chiedu Ezenwani Francis and Donatus Nwojiji have been arrested in connection with attempts to export 52.10 kilograms of ephedrine, a precursor chemical and active ingredient for the production of methamphetamine, concealed in bunches of fishing threads and packed among other items in jumbo sacks that were intercepted at the SAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport on Sunday 31st January and Monday 1st February. It took the painstaking efforts of NDLEA officers and deployment of sniffer dogs to be able to discover the complex mode of concealment of the illicit substance.

At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, vigilant operatives of the Agency on Monday 13th February intercepted a 29-year-old Apeh Kelvin Ogbonna while attempting to board Turkish airline flight TK0624 going through Istanbul to Cyprus, with 4.5 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in false bottoms of his travelling bag. The suspect claimed he was running a boutique business in Enugu before he decided to travel to Cyprus for a degree in Business Administration.

At three different courier firms in Lagos, operatives intercepted two cocaine consignments weighing 400 grams each, going to United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. They were hidden in walls of cartons used for packaging. 

Two other consignments containing 500 grams and 100 grams of methamphetamine were also blocked from being shipped to New Zealand after they were discovered concealed in food items.

In his reaction to the arrests and seizures, the Chairman of NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended the officers, men and women of the MMIA, NAIA commands for their commitment and vigilance. 

He urged them and their compatriots across the country to continue with the current working synergy with other security forces towards ridding Nigeria of the menace of illicit drugs.