Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled attempts by two drug kingpins to smuggle into Nigeria consignments of heroin through the Port Harcourt International Airport and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Its Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi in a statement issued Sunday said one of the kingpins who uses dual identities to aid his cross border movements, has a Nigerian passport with his original name: Onyekwonike Sylvanus, 30, and that of Sierra Leone with a different name: Kargbo Mohamed Foday.
He said he was intercepted by NDLEA officers with his Sierra Leonean passport on Sunday 2nd February 2025 at the Port Harcourt airport, Rivers state during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight from Doha through Abuja to Port Harcourt.
Babafemi noted that the suspect was subsequently taken for body scan which confirmed he ingested illicit drugs and thereafter placed under excretion observation during which he expelled a total of 62 wraps of heroin in five excretions, weighing 1.348 kilograms.
He noted: “Investigation reveals Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus (alias Kargbo Mohamed Foday) alternates his two identities for different drug trafficking missions between Thailand, Pakistan, Iran and West African countries.
“He claimed to have gone full time into the illicit drug trade in 2017 when his clothing and shoe business went down.
“The second kingpin, James Herbert Chinoso, 48, was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport on Saturday 1st February upon his arrival from Madagascar via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.”
Babafemi added that after a body scan confirmed illicit drug in his system, he was placed under excretion observation during which he egested 63 wraps of heroin with a total weight of 909 grams.
Chinoso had left Lagos to Madagascar on 26th January 2025 and returned via Addis Ababa after spending a week.
He claimed to have gone into the criminal trade after his phone accessories business in Liberia collapsed.