Three individuals, including two businessmen and a Canada-based nurse, have been arrested at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for attempting to traffic cocaine and cannabis, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) confirmed on Sunday.
The suspects, identified as Ihejirika Okechukwu Emmanuel, Iwuagwu Ikedi Victory, and Usman Grace Khadijat Olami, were apprehended while either trying to import or export illicit drugs through the airport.
According to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, Ihejirika, a frequent traveller to Thailand, was arrested on Tuesday, 15th October 2024, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Thailand via Addis Ababa.
“When subjected to a body scan, it was discovered that he had ingested cocaine,” Babafemi said.
“He was placed under excretion observation, during which he expelled five large egg-sized wraps of cocaine weighing 400 grams. The 51-year-old suspect admitted he was expecting payment for successfully delivering the drugs in Thailand, which he planned to use to expand his fish importation business,” Babafemi added.
In a separate incident on Thursday, 17th October, NDLEA operatives at the same airport intercepted 26-year-old businessman Iwuagwu Ikedi Victory, who had arrived from Brazil via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
His body scan revealed he had ingested cocaine, and he later excreted a pellet weighing 22 grams.
“Victory confessed to swallowing 30 wraps of the illicit drug in Brazil but had excreted 29 of them in Addis Ababa, where he handed them over to another person,” Babafemi explained.
The suspect said he was to be paid ₦2.5 million for trafficking the drugs.
Additionally, on 4th October, NDLEA officers arrested Canadian-based nurse Usman Grace Khadijat Olami during the inward clearance of Air France passengers from Toronto via Paris.
A search of her luggage uncovered 70 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 35.70kg.
“During questioning, Olami claimed she was in Nigeria to meet her boyfriend, who had instructed her to bring the large consignment of the highly sought-after synthetic cannabis,” Babafemi said.
