The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, made known on Sunday that its operatives had apprehended Freeman Charles Ogbonna, a passenger bound for Delhi, India, at the screening point of terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos, for swallowing 80 wraps of cocaine.
According to the NDLEA, Ogbonna was detained on Sunday, March 31, as he tried to board a flight to Delhi, India via Doha on Qatar Airways, using a Liberian international passport under the name Carr Bismark. After a body scan revealed the presence of illicit drugs in his system, further investigations uncovered his true identity as Freeman Charles Ogbonna. He was then placed under observation in NDLEA custody, where he began to exhibit signs of discomfort.
Clearly overwhelmed by the amount of illicit substances in his stomach and a separate substance ingested to prevent excretion, the suspect soon started to retch, eventually vomiting and excreting the cocaine wraps he had swallowed nearly simultaneously. Over a four-day period, the suspect, coerced into drug trafficking by a relative, expelled a total of 80 wraps of cocaine weighing 889 grams through both oral and anal means.
Despite the grave risk that nearly cost him his life, Ogbonna revealed that he had been instructed to ingest the drugs at a hotel in the Ipodo area of Ikeja, with the promise of a N300,000 cash reward upon successful delivery of the consignment in India.
In another development, NDLEA operatives at the Tincan seaport in Lagos intercepted 2,144 parcels of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis strain weighing 1,072kg on Wednesday, April 3. This seizure was made during a joint examination with the Customs Service and other stakeholders of a container marked GAOU 6699215, originating from Toronto, Canada but passing through Montreal. The drugs, concealed in 46 jumbo bags, were found hidden in used vehicles and various items loaded into the container.
Furthermore, NDLEA officers at the Lagos airport on April 3 also intercepted a drug mule, Imran Taofeek Olalekan, at Gate C departure of terminal 1, en route to Oman with check-in luggage and a backpack. A thorough search of his belongings revealed a false bottom concealment of drugs in the check-in luggage and backpack. Subsequently, the NDLEA officers apprehended a man accompanying the suspect, identified as Ishola Isiaka Olalekan, the recruiter of the trafficker.
Imran Taofeek Olalekan disclosed that he had returned from Dubai some years ago but still possessed a valid residence permit in his old passport. He claimed he had been promised N1,500,000 for the successful delivery of the consignment in Oman, with his recruiter, Ishola, set to receive N200,000.
Upon unpacking the bags at the NDLEA office, a charm was discovered in one of the bags, while another was found on the drug mule. The trafficker admitted to visiting an ‘Alfa’ in Ibadan, Oyo state, who provided the charm to ensure his safe passage during the journey. Ishola Isiaka Olalekan, the intermediary, also possessed a charm, which he claimed to have acquired for N70,000.
In Kano, a suspect, Gidado Sani, who had jumped bail on drug charges, was re-arrested on April 5 in Sharada with 85 blocks of cannabis weighing 50.1kg. In Ogun state, NDLEA operatives arrested Wasiu Jimoh on April 4 during a raid operation at Ilese Awo, seizing 84 parcels (62kg) of cannabis sativa.
Additionally, operatives in Lagos apprehended Emeka Umeh on April 3 with 506.2kg of cannabis at Igbede, Ojo, while Victor Okeke was nabbed on April 5 at Igbo Elerin, Ojo, with 142 grams of cannabis sativa and 175 litres of skuchies recovered from him.
The agency also thwarted an attempt by Ifeanyi Udogwu to smuggle 1.5kg of cocaine concealed in music speakers from Lagos to Aba, Abia state, en route to his uncle in Cameroon on April 3. NDLEA officers, collaborating with the transport company Young Shall Grow Motors, apprehended him during the operation.
The NDLEA commands nationwide balanced their drug supply reduction operations with the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaigns in various settings such as schools, markets, motor parks, worship centers, and communities. These efforts included WADA sensitization lectures for commercial drivers in Osogbo, Osun State; youths at the Assembly of God Church in Badagry, Lagos; and drivers at Sunny Motor Park in Awka, Anambra state.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, commended the MMIA, Tincan, Ogun, Kano, and Lagos Commands for their outstanding work in the past week. He urged all NDLEA personnel across the country to remain vigilant and intensify their efforts against drug cartels while continuing the WADA advocacy campaign in every community nationwide.
