The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two Nigerians residing in France after they allegedly swallowed 200 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.46 kilogrammes in an attempt to smuggle the drugs out of the country.
The suspects, identified as Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were arrested on October 28 during the outward clearance of Air France flight AF 832, scheduled to travel from Abuja to Paris, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, explaining that the men had visited Nigeria for holidays before attempting to return to France.
According to the agency, Odife, who lives in France and works in a factory, arrived in Nigeria on October 21. A body scan conducted during his departure clearance revealed suspected foreign objects in his stomach.
He subsequently admitted to ingesting 110 wraps of cocaine.
“He was placed under observation during which he excreted all 110 wraps, which tested positive for cocaine, with a total weight of 1.901 kilograms,” the statement reads.
His companion, Blackborn, also underwent a body scan that indicated drug ingestion. He confessed to swallowing 90 wraps, which he later expelled under observation. The recovered cocaine weighed 1.559 kilogrammes.
NDLEA Seizes 2,496.5kg Of Cannabis In Four States
In separate operations, the agency said its operatives recovered a total of 2,496.5 kilogrammes of cannabis in Lagos, Oyo, Edo and Ondo states.
In Lagos, two buses transporting 976 kilogrammes of skunk, a potent variety of cannabis, were intercepted on October 25.
The first operation took place along Kudirat Abiola Way, Ikeja, where officers discovered 537 kilogrammes of the substance inside a Volkswagen LT 28 bus.
Another team stopped a brown J5 bus along the Gbagada-Oshodi Expressway on the same day and recovered an additional 439 kilogrammes of skunk.
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In Oyo State, two men, Oguntona Nasiru, 46, and Soji Balogun, 47, were arrested on October 29 while allegedly loading 554 kilogrammes of skunk into a Volvo truck along Idere Road in Igboora.
The arrest followed an earlier operation against a suspected drug dealer identified as Omo Oba, who reportedly escaped when NDLEA operatives raided his location on October 25. During that raid, officers seized 309.5 kilogrammes of cannabis known as Ghanaian Loud, which was allegedly linked to him.
In Edo State, NDLEA officers, working alongside soldiers, destroyed a cannabis farm covering 1.646 hectares at Eko Camp in Ilushi, Esan South East Local Government Area, on October 28.
The agency estimated that the plantation could produce 4,115.53 kilogrammes of cannabis. During the operation, a 50-year-old woman, Christiana Uboi, was arrested with 301 kilogrammes of processed cannabis, while another 176 kilogrammes was recovered.
Four suspects were also arrested during a raid on cannabis farms in Ijare Forest, Ondo State, on October 25. The operatives recovered 180 kilogrammes of processed cannabis packed in 16 bags.
NDLEA Arrests Woman With 266 Rounds Of AK-47 Ammunition
In another operation, NDLEA operatives patrolling the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway arrested a woman, Aisha Isah, after allegedly finding 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition in her possession at a tollgate.
In Kaduna State, a 68-year-old man, Ifeanyi Egwolonwu, was apprehended at Gwargwaje, Zaria, along the Zaria-Kano Expressway.
The agency said he was found with 2,770 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 100 ampoules of diazepam injection, 11,000 diazepam tablets and 4,500 Exol-5 tablets.
In Kano State, two men, Ziya’ulhaq Abdullahi, 35, and Garba Muhammed, 52, were arrested in Dorayi on October 28 with 19,250 tramadol 225mg pills.
Another operation in the state led to the recovery of 247,500 diazepam tablets weighing 57.7 kilogrammes and 100,000 Exol-5 tablets weighing 38.7 kilogrammes from a location in Tsamiya, Gezawa.
In Sokoto State, operatives arrested Ibrahim Ayuba on October 31 with 236.6 kilogrammes of skunk.
The agency also reported the arrest of seven suspects during a raid in Tashan Banke, Kaduna State. The operation resulted in the recovery of 178.85 kilogrammes of cannabis, alongside quantities of diazepam, tramadol, Exol-5 and pregabalin.