Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted a 40-year-old businessman, Ejike Solomon with 1.45 kilograms of cocaine concealed in his luggage while attempting to board an Ethiopia Airlines flight number 950 to Vietnam via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, in a statement issued Sunday said Ejike was arrested at the Abuja airport on Saturday, 2nd March, 2024 after NDLEA officers subjected him to a thorough search.
He said in the process, the illicit substance was discovered concealed, factory fitted, in his bag, adding that the suspect claimed he was on a business trip to Vietnam.
Meanwhile, operatives of a special unit of the Agency on Friday, 1st March swooped on members of a syndicate that deals in methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin in their hideouts in parts of Lagos.
Babafemi noted that the operatives assigned for the operation raided the home of Esimone Amachukwu Christopher at 14 Arochukwu street, Ejigbo, where 10.012 kilograms of methamphetamine was found in possession of his associate, 40-year-old Evelyn Nneka Okem.
He stressed that Esimone is currently at large.
Babafemi added: “While the Ejigbo operation was going on, another set of officers were simultaneously busy in the residence of another member of the syndicate, 45-year-old Ebele Edwin Iwuegbunam, located at Plot 1604 Close D, 4th Avenue, Festac town, Lagos where they arrested him and recovered 429.5grams of cocaine and 7 kilograms of heroin.
“In Kogi state, NDLEA officers on a stop and search operation along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway on Friday 1st March intercepted a commercial bus marked GRM 347XA (Borno) conveying 28 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 11kg; 100 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup and 500 tablets of diazepam, all concealed in three plastic drums covered with cattle fats, heading to Jos Plateau state.
“While operatives in Ogun state on Thursday 29th February recovered 169kg consignment of cannabis abandoned in a truck at Sagamu tollgate, their counterparts in Lagos seized 25 cartons of tramadol containing 325,000 pills in Ikeja the previous day Wednesday 28th Feb.”
“Same day, a suspect, Abdullahi Garba Khalil, 42, and 2,745,000 capsules of pregabalin recovered from him at Singer market, Sabon Gari area of Kano were handed over to the Kano state command of NDLEA by the Department of State Security, DSS.”