A business trip to China ended at the departure gate after operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted a 62-year-old Lagos-based trader at the Kano airport with a bellyful of cocaine.
The suspect was caught attempting to fly out with 95 jumbo wraps of the illicit drug, cleverly tucked away in his stomach. The haul, weighing 1.589 kilograms, was uncovered during routine screening.
NDLEA spokesperson, Mr Femi Babafemi, disclosed in a statement on Sunday that the arrest took place on January 31 during outward clearance for an Ethiopian Airlines flight bound for China via Addis Ababa.
According to him, the traveller raised red flags during screening and was immediately placed under close medical observation.
“While under observation, he expelled 95 pellets of cocaine in seven excretions,” Babafemi said.
The suspect reportedly told investigators that desperation drove him into the trade, claiming he needed the proceeds to finish his country home in Iwollo, Enugu State.
In a separate sweep, NDLEA operatives struck gold in Kubwa, Abuja, where 627.7 kilograms of skunk were recovered from a makeshift warehouse at Fums Plaza.
Babafemi also revealed that officers thwarted attempts to ferry methamphetamine hidden inside MP3 speakers from Enugu to Abuja and Kaduna.
“A follow-up operation led to one arrest in Zuba, while three others were arrested in Kaduna while collecting 28 grams of meth,” he said.
The agency’s dragnet further tightened in Taraba State, where a suspect was intercepted en route to Adamawa with 1.8 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed inside yoghurt packs.
Babafemi added that a Beninoise national was arrested in Oyo State, with operatives uncovering 149.6 kilograms of skunk hidden in rice shafts.
“In Ibadan, officers seized 10,820 ampoules of pentazocine and 117,820 capsules of tramadol from a truck,” he said.
