Cocaine Trafficking: NDLEA Apprehends Auto Parts Trader And Businesswoman Heading To The UK

Cocaine Trafficking: NDLEA Apprehends Auto Parts Trader And Businesswoman Heading To The UK

Operatives from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended two individuals in connection with attempts to smuggle opioids and cocaine to the United Kingdom and Congo Brazzaville.

On Friday, September 6, 2024, NDLEA officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos intercepted a shipment destined for the UK. A statement from NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi revealed that a thorough inspection of the cargo uncovered 924 bottles of codeine-based syrup, weighing 135.70 kilograms, and 5,250 tablets of Rohypnol hidden among cartons of foodstuffs.

The freight agent, Owojori Olanrewaju Sunday, who presented the shipment for export, was immediately arrested. Further investigation led to the arrest of Adewunmi Akeem Temitope, who identified his mother, 58-year-old Mrs. Adewunmi Adebola Dorcas from Ibadan, as the sender of the consignment. Mrs. Adewunmi, who operates a foodstuff and cargo export business, was detained in Ibadan on Saturday, September 7.

Olanrewaju confessed that he had previously been hired by Mrs. Adewunmi to handle similar exports to the UK and was compensated N2,411,000.00 for this job, with an earlier consignment earning him N2.1 million.

In a separate operation on September 11, NDLEA officers at the Lagos airport’s export shed intercepted another shipment, this time bound for Congo Brazzaville on Ethiopian Airlines. A search revealed 300 grams of cocaine concealed within containers of Checker powder custard, mixed with auto parts. The sender of this shipment, Arinze Ora, who runs an auto parts business in Lagos, was subsequently arrested.

Additionally, on September 10, NDLEA operatives arrested brothers Ikechukwu and Ugochukwu Ikeabba for their involvement in financing drug traffickers who smuggle drugs by ingestion to Vietnam. Their arrest followed the earlier capture of Onitsha-based businessman Ibeanusi Solomon Nosike, who had excreted 68 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.282 kilograms after being detained at the Lagos airport.

Further investigations linked the Ikeabba brothers to another Vietnam-bound suspect, 54-year-old Paul Mbadugha, who was arrested on August 12, 2024, at Abuja airport with 88 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.710 kilograms. The Ikeabba brothers were found with 87 dummy wraps of cocaine used for training.

In Gombe State, on September 14, NDLEA operatives arrested Auwal Abdullahi, Isah Rabiu, and Abubakar Da’u with 2,490,000 Tramadol pills concealed among bags of salt in a truck.

In Kaduna State, Idris Adamu was arrested with 41.5 kilograms of cannabis sativa on September 10. Two other suspects, Godiya Jikuk and Yusuf Umaru, were caught in Ekiti State on September 11 with 73.6 kilograms of cannabis.

In Bauchi State, Chinedu Asadu was apprehended on September 13 with 208,920 pills of Tramadol and Diazepam. On September 10, two suspects, Abba Abdullahi and Mustapha Yahaya, were caught along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway with 104 kilograms of cannabis.

Finally, NDLEA operatives, in collaboration with Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, discovered 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup in two containers from India at the Tincan port in Lagos on September 10. This discovery was part of a targeted examination of containers.