Abuja, Sept. 15, 2024 – The NDLEA has arrested Adewunmi Adebola Dorcas, an Oyo State-based businesswoman, and Arinze Ora, an auto parts dealer, for attempting to export opioids and cocaine to United Kingdom and Congo Brazzaville.
Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA Spokesman, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
He said the duo were arrested on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024 at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos while the cargoes were on their way to the United Kingdom.
Babafemi said 924 bottles of codeine-based syrup weighing 135.70kg and 5,250 tablets of Rohypnol were hidden in cartons of foodstuffs after a thorough search of the consignment by the agency.
He said the arrest was a follow-up to an operation on Saturday Sept. 7, in Ibadan where Adewunmi deals in foodstuffs and cargo export.
Babafemi said the agent, Owojori in his statement, confessed that he had been working for Adewunmi to export cargo to the UK, adding that he was paid N2.411 million for the job, while he was paid another N2.1million for a similar consignment handled earlier.
The NDLEA, also in the same export shed of the Lagos airport on Wednesday Sept. 11, intercepted some cartons of auto spare parts and checkers powder custard going to Congo Brazzaville on Ethiopian Airlines.
A diligent inspection of the cargo led to the discovery of 300 grams of cocaine concealed in the containers of Checker Powder Custard packed with some auto parts.
Babafemi said a follow-up operation led to the arrest of the sender of the consignment, Arinze Ora, who deals in auto parts at Shop 12, Block 7 Aspamda Trade Fair Auto Parts Wing in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos.
The Special Operations Unit of NDLEA on Tuesday Sept.10 also arrested two brothers, Ikechukwu Ikeabba and Ugochukwu Ikeabba, who are sponsors of drug traffickers who specialise in exporting drugs by ingestion to Vietnam.
According to the statement, their arrest followed an investigation of an earlier arrest of an Onitsha, Anambra State based-businessman, Ibeanusi Solomon Nosike, who excreted 68 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.282 kilograms after 12 days of excretion observation after he was arrested at the local wing of the Lagos airport by NDLEA operatives.
The NDLEA said another Vietnam-bound businessman, 54-year-old Paul Mbadugha, was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Abuja airport on Monday Aug. 12 during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam via Doha after he tested positive to ingestion of cocaine
Mbadugha ingested a total of 88 wraps of the illicit drug with a gross weight of 1.710 kilograms after four days under observation.
The Ikeabba brothers were caught with 87 wraps of cocaine dummies used in training intending swallowers.
The NDLEA operatives in Gombe state, also acting on credible intelligence on Saturday Sept. 14, arrested three suspects: Auwal Abdullahi, Isah Rabiu and Abubakar Da’u along Bauchi-Gombe Road while travelling in a DAF truck marked GME 552 ZU.
A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of two million four hundred and ninety (2,490,000) pills of tramadol concealed with bags of salt.
A suspect, Idris Adamu, 23, was arrested with 41.5 kilograms of cannabis sativa at Kachia town, Kaduna state on Tuesday 10th September while two suspects: Godiya Sekyen Jikuk, 36, and Yusuf Umaru,65, were nabbed at Isinbode -Ekiti, Ekiti state with a total of 73.6kg cannabis on Wednesday 11th September.
In Bauchi State, no fewer than 208,920 pills of tramadol and diazepam were also seized from a suspect, Chinedu Asadu, 35, on Thursday, Sept. 13, while 104kg of cannabis was recovered from two suspects: Abba Abdullahi and Mustapha Yahaya along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Tuesday, Sept. 10, by operatives in Lagos state.
