Agents of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have taken into custody Mrs. Adewunmi Adebola Dorcas, a businesswoman from Ibadan, Oyo State, and Arinze Ora, an auto parts dealer, for allegedly attempting to export packages of cocaine and opioids to London, United Kingdom, and Congo Brazzaville, respectively.
This was announced in a statement on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA Headquarters.
“NDLEA officers at the export shed of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Friday, 6th September 2024, intercepted a cargo bound for the United Kingdom. A thorough search of the consignment revealed 924 bottles of codeine-based syrup weighing 135.70kg and 5,250 tablets of Rohypnol hidden in cartons of foodstuffs.
“The freight agent, Owojori Olanrewaju Sunday, who presented the cargo for export, was promptly arrested. Further investigation led to the arrest of another suspect, Adewunmi Akeem Temitope, who claimed that his mother, 58-year-old Mrs Adewunmi Adebola Dorcas, sent the consignment from Ibadan for him to deliver to the agent. A follow-up operation on Saturday, 7th September, led to the arrest of Mrs Adewunmi in Ibadan, where she deals in foodstuffs and cargo export.
“In his statement, the agent Owojori confessed that he had been working for Mrs Adewunmi to export cargoes to the UK, adding that he was paid ₦2,411,000.00 for the job and ₦2.1 million for a similar consignment he handled for the businesswoman earlier,” he stated.
Similarly, on Wednesday, September 11, NDLEA agents at the Lagos Airport export shed seized cartons of vehicle components and containers of checkers powder custard that were being transported by Ethiopian Airlines to Congo Brazzaville. Following a thorough cargo inspection, 300 grammes of cocaine were found hidden among some motor parts and containers of checker powder custard.
According to Babafemi, the consignment’s sender, Arinze Ora, an auto parts dealer located at Shop 12, Block 7, Aspanda Trade Fair Auto Parts Wing, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, was apprehended following a follow-up initiative.
On Tuesday, September 10, NDLEA Special Operations Unit agents detained two brothers, Ikechukwu Ikeabba and Ugochukwu Ikeabba, who were supporters of drug traffickers with a focus on ingesting drugs and exporting them to Vietnam. Their arrest came after a thorough investigation into the previous arrest of businessman Ibeanusi Solomon Nosike, of Onitsha, who, after being detained by NDLEA agents at the local wing of Lagos Airport for 12 days, excreted 68 wraps of cocaine totalling 1.282 kilogrammes.
During his attempt to board the first flight from Lagos to Abuja, where he was supposed to board a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at around 10 a.m. on the same day, the 36-year-old Ibeanusi was detained early on Thursday, August 8, 2024, at the old domestic terminal of Lagos Airport.
On Monday, August 12, 2024, during the outbound clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam via Doha, another businessman headed to Vietnam, Paul Okwuy Mbadugha, 54, was taken into custody by NDLEA agents at Abuja Airport after he tested positive for cocaine consumption. Following four days of monitoring, Mbadugha consumed 88 wraps weighing a total of 1.710 kg of the illegal substance.
The Ikeabba brothers were apprehended with 87 wraps of cocaine dummies, which were used to teach prospective swallowers.
Three suspects were taken into custody by NDLEA agents in Gombe State on Saturday, September 14, while driving a DAF truck with the license plate GME 552 ZU. The suspects were identified as Auwal Abdullahi, Isah Rabiu, and Abubakar Da’u. The arrests were made in response to solid intelligence. After the car was searched, 2,490,000 tramadol tablets that were hidden in bags of salt were found.
The statement further read that, “A suspect, Idris Adamu, 23, was arrested with 41.5 kilograms of cannabis sativa in Kachia town, Kaduna State, on Tuesday, 10th September, while two suspects, Godiya Sekyen Jikuk, 36, and Yusuf Umaru, 65, were nabbed in Isinbode-Ekiti, Ekiti State, with a total of 73.6kg of cannabis on Wednesday, 11th September.
“In Bauchi State, no fewer than 208,920 tramadol and diazepam pills were seized from a suspect, Chinedu Asadu, 35, on Thursday, 13th September, while 104kg of cannabis was recovered from two suspects, Abba Abdullahi and Mustapha Yahaya, along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Tuesday, 10th September by operatives in Lagos State.
“Not less than 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were discovered by NDLEA operatives in two containers shipped from India during a joint examination of the containers with Customs officers and other security agencies at Tincan Port, Lagos, on Tuesday, 10th September. The containers were part of those targeted by NDLEA for 100 per cent examination.”
Over the previous week, commands and formations of the Agency around the nation persisted in their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns to communities, businesses, schools, and places of worship, among other venues, with equal zeal. These include members of the Vulcanisers Association of Nigeria in Ibarapa Central LGA, Oyo State; Muslim faithful at Central Mosque, Demsa, Adamawa State; students at Kukudus Islamic School, Minna, Niger State; nurses and midwives at UBTH School of Nursing, Ugbowo, Benin City, Edo State; and a WADA advocacy visit to the Emir of Rano, Kano State, Alhaji Muhammad Isah Umaru, among others.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, praised the officers and men of the Special Operations Unit, MMIA, Tincan, Lagos, Gombe, Kaduna, Bauchi, and Ekiti Commands of the Agency for their arrests and seizures and said that their operational successes are greatly appreciated, as are those of their fellow citizens throughout the nation.
He asked them to keep stepping up their current efforts to reduce drug demand and supply.
