From Olukayode Idowu, Abuja
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a Nigerian woman based in Brazil at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, with 100 pellets of cocaine concealed in her private part and handbag.
The woman, Mrs. Anita Ugochinyere Ogbonna, mother of three was arrested on Friday night on arrival in Abuja via Qatar Air from Sao Paulo, Brazil through Doha.
According to a statement by the spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi when she was searched 12 wraps of cocaine inserted in her private part were extracted while another 88 pellets stuffed in socks were discovered hidden in her handbag.
He revealed that during interrogation Ogbonna, who is a mother of three children, all resident in Brazil, claimed she lost her husband three years ago. She confessed she decided to traffick the illicit drug to raise money for the burial of her father scheduled for 22nd July in Imo state.
She also said that one Emeka, alias KC also based in Brazil gave her the drug to deliver in Nigeria for a fee of $3,000, adding that she pushed the wraps of cocaine into her private part after her attempts to swallow the pellets failed.
Ogbonna, who owns a shop where she sells African foodstuffs in Brazil, further claimed she had to drop her three young children with a Kenyan lady who is her neighbour in Brazil before she embarked on the “quick-money-journey”.
In a related development, narcotic officers attached to a courier company in Lagos have intercepted 500 grammes of ketamine concealed in the walls of a wooden box filled with bitter kola that originated from Douala, Cameroon and heading to the United States of America, while another 500 grammes of methamphetamine hidden in automobile parts going to Australia were also seized at the firm.
Also, over 410 kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs have been intercepted and seized by NDLEA operatives in Plateau and Kwara states.
The statement revealed that a commercial bus with registration number EKY 184 CQ Lagos was intercepted in Plateau with Diazepam weighing 39 kilogrammes; Exol-5 tablets weighing 35 kilogrammes and 1.7kg of Flumtrazepam tablets discovered in the vehicle.
A follow up operation led to the arrest of a drug dealer, Livinus Nnadi at Bauchi motor park on 26th June, 2021 while on the same day, a blue Sharon minibus with registration number FKG 539 GR, going to Bauchi from Jos was also intercepted and 7.9 kilogrammes of pentazocine injection recovered from it, according to the statement.
In the same vein, operatives of the Kwara state command of the agency have recovered 67.2 kilogrammes of Tramadol heading to Benin Republic at a checkpoint close to Ilesha in Osun state while a 53-year-old drug trafficker, Zakiru Abdullahi has been arrested on Ilorin-Jebba highway on Thursday 1st July, with 260 kilogrammes of pentazocine injection meant for Kaduna.
Meanwhile, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd), in his reaction to the arrests, commended officers and men of Abuja airport, Plateau, Kwara commands of the agency as well as those in the Directorate of Investigations and Operations, DOGI, attached to the courier firms for their diligence and commitment to work.
He said: “Let me again commend all the gallant and vigilant officers and men in these commands and DOGI for their resilience and commitment to the mandate President Muhammadu Buhari has given us in the agency to rid our towns, communities and even forests of illicit drugs and the criminal elements profiting from the unconscionable trade.
He said: “With the recent launch of the War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, we must all aim for the ultimate goal of winning this battle sooner than expected. We can and we must.”
