NDLEA Arrests Ex-Convict, Others for Peddling Drugs

The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency has confirmed the arrest of an ex-convict, Onyeka Madukolu, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, for importing 5.90 kilograms of cocaine concealed in cans of deodorants and ladies’ lip gloss into Nigeria.

The agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said Onyeka, who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in Ethiopia for drug trafficking offences and released from prison in 2020, was again arrested on Friday, September 16, 2022.

Babafemi said the drug dealer was arrested at the Lagos airport on his return from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

He said, “A search of his luggage revealed that he concealed 5.90kg cocaine inside cans of deodorants and female lip gloss. During preliminary interview, he claimed to have ventured into the drug business to raise fresh capital to kick-start a legitimate business after his release from Ethiopian prison in 2020.’’

The father of two kids, one from a Nigerian woman and the other from a Brazilian lady, said he was into motor spare parts business before he commenced the criminal trade, adding that he was expecting to be paid N2m on successful delivery of the illicit drug in Nigeria.

In another development, Babafemi confirmed the arrest of the producer of a new psychoactive substance, popularly called Akuskura, Qasim Ademola, in Kano State.

The spokesperson said Ademola was arrested by anti-narcotic officers, who intercepted 26, 600 bottles of the illicit substance, meant for distribution across Northern states.

‘’The consignment was impounded on Thursday September 15, 2022, on  Zaria-Kano Road, Gadar Tamburawa, Kano State, while the 39-year-old proprietor from Akinyele LGA, Oyo State and three of his distributors were arrested in follow-up operations,’’ the statement said.

In the same vein, the NDLEA operatives on Tuesday Sept 13, 2022, intercepted another trafficker, Chukwu Kingsley, on his way to Rome, Italy, on an Asky Airline flight.

The statement said, “A search of his luggage showed he had concealed among food condiments, 11,460 tablets of tramadol 225mg with a gross weight of 5.7kg and 39 bottles of codeine syrup. The 49-year-old suspect is a known haulage agent, who hails from Oru West Local Government Area of Imo State.

“Also at the Lagos airport, a freight agent, Lawal Adeyemi, was arrested same day for attempting to export some sachets of lexotan, among other non-controlled drugs to Liberia, while operatives equally seized 593.90 kilograms of khat leaf at the NAHCO import shed of the airport on Thursday September 15, 2022, after a joint examination of the cargo by a combined team of security agencies.”