NDLEA intercepts 74-yr-old with cocaine in Abuja airport
A 74-year-old man named Ikwuakalom Nwakoro Emeka has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja after 11 kilograms of cocaine were discovered in his luggage.
NDLEA officials disclosed that the suspect was arrested at the airport departure hall while attempting to board a British Airways flight to London in the United Kingdom.
The agency revealed that the suspect claimed he was travelling for a vacation before a search was conducted on his luggage. Officers reportedly found blocks of cocaine hidden inside food items, including ground dry pepper all wrapped in foil papers and balloons weighing not less than 11 kilograms.
In a separate operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives also arrested a woman, Maryam Olalowo, at a hotel on Victoria Island alongside her three children while she was allegedly attempting to sell cocaine and a strain of cannabis known as Canadian Loud.
Investigations later led to the arrest of her husband, Ibrahim Olalowo Olatunji, who had previously been convicted in 2015, and reportedly admitted ownership of the drugs.
The agency also arrested several other suspects in various raids, including Kalilou Simpara and Saidu Ibrahim, at Ebute Ero on Lagos Island where 68,000 tramadol pills were recovered, and a follow-up raid at Idumota Market where Nnamdi Cyprian and Nwanosike Kelvin were arrested with various drugs recovered from their shops.
In other operations, NDLEA officers arrested suspects in Kano and Gwagwalada in the Federal Capital Territory with large quantities of skunk, a strain of cannabis while also destroying over four tonnes of the same substance on two farms in Edo State and intercepting 339,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup hidden in two containers at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos.
Addressing the issue, the NDLEA Chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers across the country for their efforts in combating drug trafficking and promoting drug abuse awareness while assuring Nigerians that the end to the proliferation of drugs is near.
