Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) don arrest three people, including a Canada-based nurse and two businessmen, for trying to traffic cocaine and synthetic cannabis into Nigeria.
Ihejirika Okechukwu Emmanuel, one of the businessmen, dey frequent travel to Thailand, claiming he dey import fish into Nigeria. But on October 15, 2024, NDLEA officers catch am while he dey try to board Ethiopian Airlines flight to Thailand via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Body scan show say he ingest cocaine, and under observation, he expel five large wraps of cocaine weighing 400 grams. He confess say he need the money to boost his fish importation business.
Another businessman, Iwuagwu Ikedi Victory, 26 years old, was also arrested on October 17, 2024, during inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Brazil via Addis Ababa. Body scan reveal say he ingest drugs, and he later expel one pellet of cocaine weighing 22 grams. He confess say he ingest 30 wraps of cocaine in Brazil but expel 29 pellets in Addis Ababa, where he hand them over to another person. He say he suppose get ₦2.5 million for trafficking the drug.
A Canadian-based nurse, Usman Grace Khadijat Olami, was arrested on October 4, 2024, at Lagos airport during inward clearance of Air France passengers from Toronto, Canada, via Paris. NDLEA officers find 70 parcels of Canadian Loud, weighing 35.70 kg, inside her luggage. She claim say she come Nigeria to meet her boyfriend, who instruct her to bring the large consignment of synthetic cannabis.
In addition to these arrests, NDLEA operatives also intercept large quantities of drugs at seaports and other locations. At Apapa seaport in Lagos, they seize 162,351 bottles of codeine-based syrup from two containers. At Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers State, they recover 7,200,000 pills of Royal 225 mg Tapentadol and Carisoprodol worth ₦3,600,000,000 in street value.
