A Brazilian returnee and father of two, Okolie Paulinus Nwabueze has been arrested at the Abuja International Airport by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for allegedly importing 92 wraps of cocaine, ingested and eventually excreted after days under observation in the agency’s facility.
The 53-year-old trafficker, who was arrested on September 2 upon his arrival on Qatar Airline flight en route Brazil-Doha-Abuja, claimed to have left Nigeria to Mozambique in 2004 and finally relocated to Brazil in 2017, where he obtained a residence permit before deciding to import the illicit substance for a $4,000 fee.
Similarly, operatives of the agency arrested a 42-year-old man, Aliyu Bello Kwasare, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, (MAKIA), Kano, for attempting to export a consignment of new psychoactive substance, Akuskura, to Saudi Arabia.
The indigene of Kware LGA, Sokoto, who lives in Goron Dutse area of Kano, was arrested last Monday during the outward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight to Riyadh.
A statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi said no fewer than 1,099,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg were seized through inter-agency collaboration between NDLEA and the Nigerian Customs at the Lagos Airport.
The pharmaceutical opioids packed in 50 cartons weighing 2,058.90kg, were imported from Pakistan via Addis-Ababa on Ethiopian Airways. The consignment was concealed among other non-controlled pharmaceuticals.
Also, a freight agent, Aliyu Abubakar was on Friday arrested at the NAHCO export shed of the airport over an attempt to export a consignment of cannabis concealed inside bottles of Caro White body lotion.
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Meanwhile, attempts by drug cartels to export 7.805 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine to the United States and Australia have been thwarted by NDLEA operatives attached to some courier companies in Lagos. The meth consignments, according to the statement, were concealed in the linings of the local fabric, wooden statutes, printer cartridges, handle of travel bag and cassava flakes.
From other parts of the country, Babafemi said, a 25-year-old pregnant woman, Haruna Favour, was also arrested in Auchi, Edo state on Friday with 82 pinches of methamphetamine as well as various quantities of Loud, Arizona, Colorado variants of cannabis and codeine-based cough syrup.
In Gombe state, he said, 119,000 tablets and capsules of tramadol, D5 and Exol5 were recovered from two drug dealers, Nasiru Abubakar, and Umaru Bayero a.k.a Hadiza when NDLEA operatives raided their stores at the Gombe main market on Tuesday while in Kogi, a suspect, Paul Ali was arrested along Okene-Abuja highway with 1,404 bottles of Codeine based syrup weighing 190.94kg and 2,040 ampoules of pentazocine injection coming from Onitsha to Sokoto.
A follow-up operation in Sokoto also led to the arrest of the receiver of the consignment on Tuesday, while a raid at the cannabis plantation camp in Emure forest, Owo LGA, Ondo State led to the arrest of Monday Onoja, Daniel Kehinde and Obinna Okechukwu, where 16 bags of the illicit substance weighing 179.5kg were seized from them.
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