Operatives of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Tuesday intercepted a passenger with cocaine worth N7b at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA).
Ukaegbu Bright Onyekachi, a passenger with Ethiopian Airlines from Guarulhos International Airport, Sao Paolo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was apprehended at the E-arrival wing of MMIA. It weighed 3.30kg.
Ukaegbu, however, maintained that he was oblivious of the drug that was concealed in the check-in luggage allegedly given to him by a Nigerian based in Brazil.
Speaking on the arrest of the suspect, the Commander, MMIA, Ahmadu Garba, said the suspect concealed the drug in 68 T-shirts. He explained that the mode of concealment was ingenious.
He said: “The total weight of the seized drug is 3.30kg. It is not really a significant seizure when you compare it to the 8.5kg cocaine that was seized recently. But when you look at this seizure, the mode of concealment is very tricky. Our officials have to be experienced to discover this.
“Drug trafficking is a huge money business and definitely, anything that is money, people will want to do it. I want to say that the COVID-19 pandemic slowed them down and I want to believe they want to meet up with the lost time.
“However, during the pandemic, my officers had enough time to do some refresher courses, especially online. I want to say the training we had during this period had helped our officials to learn some of the ingenious ways they conceal these drugs.”
He added that the NDLEA under Gen. Buba Marwa as chairman would not tolerate any dastardly act.
