It was learnt that the suspect excreted 68 pellets of cocaine after 12 days of excretion observation following his arrest on Thursday, August 8, 2024.
A 36-year-old businessman based in Onitsha, Anambra State, Ibeanusi Solomon Nosike, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over the alleged trafficking of illicit drugs at the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.
It was learnt that the suspect excreted 68 pellets of cocaine after 12 days of excretion observation following his arrest on Thursday, August 8, 2024.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy in a statement on Sunday said the suspect was arrested at the old domestic terminal of the Lagos airport while attempting to board the first flight out of Lagos to Abuja where he was scheduled to join a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja at about 10 am on the same day.
He said, "The suspect who came under NDLEA surveillance following intelligence had arrived Lagos from his base in Onitsha, Anambra state the previous day, 7th August and lodged in a hotel where he swallowed the 68 wraps of cocaine before heading to the airport for a 6:30am flight the following morning.
"He was thereafter intercepted by NDLEA operatives who moved him into excretion observation where he spent the next 12 days excreting the cocaine pellets weighing 1.282 kilograms.
"Another Vietnam-bound businessman, 54-year-old Paul Okwuy Mbadugha had been arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Abuja airport on Monday 12th August 2024 during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam via Doha after he tested positive to ingestion of cocaine.
“After four days under observation, Mbadugha egested a total of 88 wraps of the illicit drug with a gross weight of 1.710 kilograms.
"In the same vein, another Onitsha based businessman, Aligbo Chukwudi Jacob has been arrested by NDLEA operatives following the seizure of a consignment of 1.20kg cannabis concealed in a package going to Dubai, UAE.”
"Operatives at the MMIA Strategic Command of the Agency had intercepted the shipment at the export shed of the Lagos airport while investigations revealed the cargo was sent through a courier company in Onitsha. After series of follow up operations, Aligbo was eventually arrested in Onitsha on Saturday 17th August," the statement added.
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