The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an Ogun State-based businesswoman, Olayinka Adisa, traveling to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for Umrah (lesser Hajj) for allegedly ingesting 80 pellets of cocaine.
Adisa was arrested on Wednesday, November 24, 2021, at the boarding screening area of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, during an outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight 1418.
In a statement released on Monday, the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the suspect claimed she trafficked the drug to get money for her in vitro fertilization treatment.
Babafemi said the suspect excreted the 80 pellets of the drug between Wednesday, when she was arrested, and Saturday, November 27, 2021.
He said, “She claimed during interviews that she saved N2.5m over one year to buy the drug in bits from six different people at Akala, in the Mushin area of Lagos. The suspect further said she was trading in clothes but had to borrow N1m from three persons to make up the money used to buy the drug, adding that she spent another N1m to renew her passport, visa and buy return flight tickets.
“She said she was encouraged to traffic the drug by a woman she met during her last Umrah trip to Saudi Arabia in 2019. She added that she needed to raise N7m for in vitro fertilization treatment due to pressure from people because she had been married for 28 years without a child due to fertility challenges.”
