NDLEA nabs businessman with cocaine hidden in sandals at Lagos airport
A Spain-based businessman, 50-year-old Francis Akajiobi, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the departure hall of terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
The arrest followed the discovery of parcels of cocaine weighing 1.20 kilograms concealed in his sandals while he was attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Madrid, Spain.
According to a statement by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, the two parcels of cocaine were hidden in the soles of a pair of black sandals Akajiobi was wearing. NDLEA operatives intercepted him on Thursday, 25th July 2024.
During his preliminary interview, Akajiobi claimed the consignment was delivered to him at a bar in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and that he was to deliver it to his friend and neighbour in Spain for a fee of €5,000 upon successful delivery.
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In a related operation, a suspect, Makinde Sodiq Lekan, was arrested in connection with the seizure of 99 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 51.60kg.
The shipment arrived at the SAHCO Imports shed of the Lagos airport on a Turkish Airlines flight from Canada via Istanbul, Turkey.
Meanwhile, operatives of a Special Operations Unit targeting syndicates involved in shipping large consignments of opioids into neighbouring countries for smuggling into Nigeria in smaller quantities arrested a kingpin, Chukwuemaka Obodozie.
He was apprehended in the early hours of Sunday, 21st July, at Cele bus stop along Oshodi-Apapa express road, Lagos, with 100,000 tablets of tramadol 225mg loaded in two bags.
The intelligence-led operation followed five months of surveillance around Chukwuemeka.
Additionally, NDLEA operatives raided the Owena forest in Oriade LGA, Osun State, on Friday, 26th July, where they destroyed 31,250 kilograms of cannabis on 12.5 hectares of farmland.
They recovered 84kg of processed cannabis sativa along with a single-barrel Dane gun.
Seventeen suspects were arrested during the operation, including Peter Osuya (51), Zebron Ode (46), Dogo Reuben Matthew (35), Isaac Terna, Joseph David Lawrence (27), Ugochukwu Victory (24), Olamilekan Abolarin (26), Dele Ayibo (44), Ojo Moses (21), Nini Ayila (27), Msughve Clement (23), Chuks Ogeneku (40), Dada Aribo (20), Uche Endurance (30), Patrick Agba (21), Osakwe Kennedy (45), and Ojo Babatunde (29).
Proofreading, editing by Sakinat Musa Abubakar and Maryam Sulaiman, Editor and Journalist at Neptune Prime.
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