Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have apprehended a businessman, Paul Mbadugha, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after he was found to have ingested cocaine.
Spokesperson for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi confirmed this in a statement released on Sunday.
He mentioned that the 54-year-old, bound for Vietnam, was intercepted during the boarding process for Qatar Airways flight QR 1432, en route to Hanoi via Doha, on Monday, 12th August 2024.
Following his arrest, Mbadugha was placed under close observation, during which he excreted a total of 88 wraps of cocaine over four days. These wraps collectively weighed 1.710 kilograms.
In the statement, Babafemi, noted, “The 54-year-old suspect was intercepted at the boarding gate of Abuja Airport on Monday, 12th August 2024, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam, via Doha. After four days under excretion observation, Mbadugha excreted a total of 88 wraps of the illicit drug with a gross weight of 1.710 kilograms.”
Babafemi further disclosed that Mbadugha, who claimed to be a Lagos-based businessman, was reportedly offered $2,000 by a friend in Isolo, Lagos, to swallow the drug pellets and deliver them to Vietnam.
He said, “In his statement, he claimed he is a Lagos-based businessman and was given the cocaine pellets to swallow by a friend in the Isolo area of Lagos for onward delivery in Vietnam for a fee of $2,000.”
In a related development, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, intercepted a shipment of “Loud,” a potent strain of synthetic cannabis, hidden within a consignment of noodles.
The package, weighing 800 grams, was destined for Congo. A follow-up operation at Alaba International Market in Ojo, Lagos, led to the arrest of the sender, identified as Nnamani Sunday Sunny, a dealer in GSM handsets.
Babafemi also highlighted another significant seizure at the Lagos airport, where a large consignment of Loud, imported from Canada, was recovered.
The suspect, Desalu Taophic Temitope, who arrived on an Air France flight, was apprehended with six suitcases.
A joint examination by security agencies at the airport revealed 65.80 kilograms of the psychoactive substance concealed in four of the six suitcases.
Babafemi stated, “A total of 65.80 kilograms of the psychoactive substance were recovered from four of the six suitcases. In his statement, Desalu said he and an accomplice, currently at large, were promised $10,000 upon successful delivery of the shipment in Lagos.”
The NDLEA’s operations extended beyond the airports, with a major drug bust in Rivers State.
At the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, NDLEA operatives, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and other port stakeholders, recovered 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup from five containers.
The bottles, with a street value of N6.25 billion, were packed in 5,337 cartons with a total weight of 133,860 kilograms. Babafemi revealed that the containers, shipped from India, were examined on the 14th and 15th of August 2024.
In another raid, NDLEA operatives, supported by the Nigerian Army and other security agencies, along with local community youths, destroyed 21,800 kilograms of cannabis sativa spread across 20 hectares of farmland in the Ise forest reserve, Saalaja camp, Ise-Ekiti, Ekiti State, on 14th August.
Babafemi provided further details on the operations across Nigeria, including an interception along the Onitsha-Enugu road in Enugu, where NDLEA officers recovered 200.2 kilograms of cannabis from a Sienna bus. The driver, Okoro Emmanuel, 41, was arrested.
In Kano, on 12th August, two suspects, Joseph Apeh, 45, and Diamond Nnabuike, 21, were apprehended at Gadar Tamburawa with 145,400 pills of tramadol.
Similarly, in Ogun State, NDLEA operatives raided a cannabis plantation in Alaka village on 13th August, leading to the arrest of four individuals, including a 70-year-old man, Fidelis Egede.
Further NDLEA actions were reported in Abuja, where operatives intercepted a truck along the Kwali-Gwagwalada Expressway on 13th August, uncovering 30,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection. Three suspects—identified as Ifeanyi Sunday, Jeremiah Paul, and Edet Ubokobong—were arrested in connection with the discovery.
Finally, in Niger State, Ifeanyi Chukwueze was arrested in Kontagora town with 28,500 pills of tramadol concealed inside a loudspeaker.
On 14th August, another significant arrest was made in Kogi State, where Abba Yakubu was caught with 40,000 pills of tramadol en route to Kontagora.
The next day, in Lokoja, Tochukwu Onah, 39, was apprehended with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection. Babafemi’s statement underscores the NDLEA’s continued efforts in tackling drug trafficking and abuse across Nigeria.
“Their counterparts in Kogi State, on Wednesday, 14th August, apprehended Abba Yakubu with 40,000 pills of the same opioid heading to Kontagora. Another suspect, Tochukwu Onah, 39, was arrested by NDLEA officers at Paparanda, Lokoja, on Thursday, 15th August 2024, with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection,” the statement added.
