Iran-bound businessman nabbed at Port Harcourt airport for ingesting 53 cocaine wraps
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 44-year-old businessman, Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka Christian, at the Port Harcourt International Airport for attempting to smuggle 53 wraps of cocaine to Iran by ingesting them.
The suspect was apprehended on 7 June while trying to board Qatar Airways flight QR1434 en route to Tehran Khomeini Airport, Iran, via Doha. The arrest was disclosed in a statement released on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja.
According to the agency, Ezemokwe was subjected to a body scan, which tested positive for drug ingestion. He was then placed under observation, during which he excreted 53 wraps of cocaine in six batches, weighing a total of 1.172 kilograms.
The NDLEA said the suspect confessed to engaging in the illicit trade two years ago and claimed he had been travelling between countries in the West African sub-region and Iran as part of his drug trafficking activities.
Ezemokwe’s arrest comes less than two weeks after another businessman, 60-year-old Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, was arrested at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, with 65 pellets of cocaine in his stomach while attempting to travel to Iran.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, in collaboration with Aviation Security personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), intercepted an Italy-bound passenger, Edobor Ambrose Ali, in the early hours of 14 June.
The suspect was on an Air France flight to Milan when officers discovered drug consignments hidden in his luggage during tarmac scanning. He was offloaded and subjected to a search, which led to the recovery of 14,410 tramadol pills of 225mg and 200mg strength concealed in winter jackets.
Edobor, who claimed to be a resident of Italy, told investigators he was recruited and sponsored on an all-expenses-paid trip to Nigeria to transport the drugs for a fee of €2,000.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives at Onne Port on 13 June intercepted a container loaded with 157,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup with an estimated street value of over ₦1.1 billion. The shipment, concealed behind 257 cartons of ceramic sanitary wares, was discovered during a joint examination involving officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
In a separate operation in Obereakai, Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State, three suspects — Friday Achibong Joseph, 47; Abraham Anthony Willy, 21; and Utibe David Okon, 24 — were arrested on 12 June after operatives raided a warehouse where 2,687kg of cannabis sativa (skunk) was seized.
Also on 12 June, NDLEA officers in Bauchi State intercepted a Toyota Camry car along Bauchi–Jos road carrying 195 blocks of cannabis weighing 287kg. Two suspects, Iriemi Imonikhe, 49, and Sa’idu Ladan, 30, were arrested.
The same day in Lagos, the agency’s Marine Command recovered 14 jumbo sacks of skunk weighing 560kg from a wooden boat off Oniru Beach.
At Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, Maiduguri, two suspects — Ishaku Abdullahi, 30, and Buba Usman, 32 — were arrested with various quantities of ecstasy pills and skunk. The substances were packaged in designer wraps labelled “Lychee” and “Porro Legal”.
Reacting to the series of arrests and seizures, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers and men of the various commands — including those at MMIA, PHIA, MBIAM, Onne Port, Marine Command, Cross River, and Bauchi — for their commitment and success over the past week.
Marwa also praised NDLEA personnel nationwide for maintaining balance between drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
Source: The Guardian
