NDLEA nabs South African with illicit drugs at Abuja airport
Story from Christine TOBECHUKWU
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have thwarted an attempt by a 29-year-old South African, Erasmus Jean-Pierre, to export 2.6 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in his luggage to the Middle East through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The suspect was intercepted by NDLEA operatives during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 404 from Abuja to the Middle East via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
A thorough search of his luggage led to the discovery of the whitish powdery illicit substance factory packed in different parts of the bag.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect arrived in Lagos through Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on Saturday 19th August, came to Abuja on Tuesday 22nd August, and took possession of the brown bag containing the drug consignment on Wednesday 23rd August before heading to the Abuja airport for his flight out of Nigeria.
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NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement said, “The suspect was intercepted by NDLEA operatives during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 404 from Abuja to the Middle East via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“A thorough search of his luggage led to the discovery of the whitish powdery illicit substance factory packed in different parts of the bag.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect arrived in Lagos through Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on August 19, came to Abuja on August 22, and took possession of the brown bag containing the drug consignment on August 23, before heading to the Abuja airport for his flight out of Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers in Gombe State on patrol along Darazo road on August 21, recovered an abandoned Volkswagen Sharon vehicle marked GME 76 XD containing a total of 373,420 pills of opioids including tramadol and diazepam.
In the same vein, operatives in Ogun State on August 23, raided the home of a drug dealer, Ifeanyi Orji, in Ibafo area of the state where 81,000 tablets of tramadol 225mg weighing 32.4kgs were recovered.
“In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives on August 22, recovered 60,000 pills of tramadol from a suspect, Ibrahim Abba, 25, who was travelling in a commercial Toyota Starlet car from Kalaa village to Mubi.
“In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, operatives intercepted two consignments of skunk with a gross weight of 1, 242.1 kilograms.
“The first consignment of 665.1kgs was seized from a truck around Area 3 on August 20, while the second one weighing 577kgs was recovered during a stop and search operation along Lokoja- Abaji expressway same day.
“The consignment was concealed in Jumia goods delivery packs inside a container Mercedes truck, whose driver, Yusuf Yakubu Asokomhe, and his assistant, Tunde Ogundare, were arrested.
“In Kwara State, operatives on patrol along along Jebba-Minna road on August 22, intercepted a commercial truck conveying goods from Lagos to Katsina with 37.5kgs of cannabis sativa hidden among other items.
“The driver, Abdulazeez Usman, and his assistant, Halidu Musa, were arrested for further investigation.
“Similarly, in Yobe State, NDLEA operatives on August 23, intercepted an ash colour Sharon Galaxy vehicle marked AKK 484 XA along Potiskum-Gombe Road coming from Baissa, Kurmi local government area of Taraba State.”