A Vietnam-bound businessman, Paul Mbadugha, was apprehended by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. Mbadugha was arrested after testing positive for drug ingestion.
In a statement released on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, it was revealed that Mbadugha had excreted 88 wraps of cocaine, totaling 1.710 kilograms. Babafemi detailed that the 54-year-old suspect was intercepted on Monday, 12th August 2024, at the boarding gate while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight, QR 1432, to Hanoi, Vietnam, via Doha. After four days under observation, Mbadugha excreted all the illicit drug wraps.
Mbadugha reportedly claimed that a Lagos-based businessman provided him with the cocaine pellets, which he was supposed to deliver to Vietnam for a payment of $2,000.
Babafemi said, “The 54-year-old suspect was intercepted at the boarding gate of Abuja Airport on Monday, 12th August 2024, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam, via Doha. After four days under excretion observation, Mbadugha excreted a total of 88 wraps of the illicit drug with a gross weight of 1.710 kilograms.
“In his statement, he claimed he is a Lagos-based businessman and was given the cocaine pellets to swallow by a friend in the Isolo area of Lagos for onward delivery in Vietnam for a fee of $2,000.”
In a related development, Babafemi disclosed that NDLEA officers intercepted a shipment of “Loud,” a potent strain of synthetic cannabis, weighing 800 grams, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. The illegal substance was hidden in noodles and was destined for Congo. A follow-up operation at the Alaba International Market in Lagos led to the arrest of Nnamani Sunday Sunny, the individual responsible for sending the consignment.
Additionally, a significant quantity of “Loud” imported from Canada was seized at the Lagos Airport. The NDLEA arrested Desalu Taophic Temitope, who arrived on an Air France flight with six suitcases. During a joint security examination, four of the suitcases were found to contain 65.80 kilograms of the psychoactive substance. Desalu admitted that he and an accomplice, who remains at large, were promised $10,000 for successfully delivering the shipment in Lagos.
In another major operation, NDLEA operatives in Rivers State recovered 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup, valued at ₦6,246,800,000.00, from five containers at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne. The bottles, packed in 5,337 cartons and weighing 133,860 kilograms, were shipped from India.
Meanwhile, in Ekiti State, with support from the Nigerian Army, security agencies, and local community members, NDLEA officers destroyed 21,800 kilograms of cannabis sativa on a 20-hectare farm in the Ise forest reserve on 14th August 2024.
Further north, NDLEA officers intercepted a Sienna bus along the Onitsha-Enugu road on 15th August, seizing 200.2 kilograms of cannabis and arresting the driver, Okoro Emmanuel, aged 41. Other arrests included Joseph Apeh, 45, and Diamond Nnabuike, 21, in Kano State, found in possession of 145,400 tramadol pills.
In Ogun State, a 70-year-old man named Fidelis Egede and three others were arrested on 13th August for operating a cannabis plantation spanning six hectares in Alaka village. Moreover, in Abuja, NDLEA officers intercepted a truck along the Kwali-Gwagwalada Expressway on 13th August, seizing 30,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection and arresting three suspects.
Lastly, in Niger State, Ifeanyi Chukwueze was arrested in Kontagora town with 28,500 tramadol pills hidden in a loudspeaker. In Kogi State, Abba Yakubu was apprehended on 14th August with 40,000 tramadol pills en route to Kontagora. Another suspect, Tochukwu Onah, 39, was arrested in Lokoja on 15th August with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection.
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