Juliana Francis
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have smashed a cartel, which specialised in concealing cannabis in bottles of body cream.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, said that the bottled illegal drugs were going to Dubai on 9th September and the actual owner of the consignment, Wordu Hopewell Chukwuemeka who runs a boutique business in Port Harcourt, Rivers State has been arrested in the Garden City on Thursday 24th Nov.
In the same vein, operatives attached to NAHCO import shed of the Lagos airport on Tuesday 22nd November 2022 intercepted a consolidated cargo from Johannesburg, South Africa via an Airpeace Airline flight.
The cargo contained different items, including clothes, cereals, baby toys, drinks, and a set of two big black speakers, which were used to conceal 25 parcels of Loud variant of cannabis, with a gross weight of 5.5kg
Similarly, operatives attached to the SAHCO export shed of the airport the same Tuesday intercepted a carton of food items used to conceal 500 grams of cannabis going to Dubai, UAE. At the same time, the owner, Uzoma Kingsley was promptly arrested.
In a related development, an attempt by an Organised Criminal Group to traffic 131kg of Ephedrine, a dominant precursor chemical for the production of Methamphetamine to Congo Kinshasa through the SAHCO export shed of the airport was foiled on Monday 21st Nov by NDLEA operatives in conjunction with Aviation Security (AVSEC) officers of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). Two freight agents: Nwazuru Georgewill and Saheed Muritala linked to the bid were promptly arrested.
Babafemi noted: “Attempt by a drug trafficker, Udogwu James Johnson, facing multiple charges of drug offences to flee the country after he jumped NDLEA operatives have thwarted bail at the Port Harcourt International Airport where he was arrested on Friday 25th Nov. The 51-year-old suspect was already facing trial at a Federal High Court in Lagos before he was arrested again on Saturday 9th April in Port Harcourt for importing 5.48kg cocaine concealed in lotion plastic bottles sealed with candle wax. He was granted bail by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on Wednesday 23rd Nov over his latest offence while the Lagos court had issued a warrant of arrest against him for jumping bail over his case in Lagos. At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, the move by a Brazilian returnee, Iroegbute Ejike Francis, 46, to smuggle 4kg cocaine soaked in towels stuffed in his hand luggage into the country was foiled on Thursday 24th Nov by NDLEA officers who arrested him, upon his arrival on a Qatar Airline flight from Brazil -Doha-Abuja.”
