The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two Nigerians based in Europe after they allegedly swallowed 200 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.46kg while attempting to board a flight from Abuja to Paris, France.
The suspects, identified as Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were intercepted on Wednesday, October 28, during the outward clearance of an Air France flight, AF 832, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying body scans confirmed that both men had ingested illicit substances.
According to the agency, Odife, who lives in France and works in a factory, arrived in Nigeria on October 21 for a short holiday but was arrested while attempting to return to Europe.
Babafemi said Odife admitted to swallowing 110 wraps of cocaine, which he later excreted under observation. The drugs weighed 1.901kg.
His co-traveller, Blackborn, also tested positive during a body scan and allegedly confessed to ingesting 90 wraps of cocaine.
The agency said he excreted all the wraps under observation, with the substances weighing 1.559kg.
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In a separate operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives recovered 976kg of cannabis from two commercial buses.
In Oyo State, two suspects, Oguntona Nasiru, 46, and Soji Balogun, 47, were arrested on Thursday, October 29, while allegedly loading 554kg of cannabis into a truck along Idere Road, Igboora.
In Kano, operatives recovered 247,500 tablets of diazepam weighing 57.7kg and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 weighing 38.7kg during a raid in the Tsamiya area of Gezawa. Two other men were arrested in Dorayi with 19,250 tramadol pills.
The agency also said a woman, Aisha Isah, was arrested with 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition during a patrol along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.
In another operation along the Zaria-Kano Expressway, operatives arrested 68-year-old Ifeanyi Egwolonwu with 2,770 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 100 ampoules of diazepam injection, 11,000 diazepam tablets and 4,500 Exol-5 tablets.
Reacting to the arrests, NDLEA Chairman, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), warned Nigerians living abroad against using their foreign residence as cover for drug trafficking.
“The interception of the two cocaine couriers at Abuja airport is a fresh warning to those who think they can use their residence abroad as cover to traffic drugs across Nigerian borders,” Marwa said.
He added that NDLEA operatives at the country’s entry and exit points remained vigilant, warning that anyone who ingested illicit drugs for payment risked their life and freedom.
Marwa commended officers involved in the operations across Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ondo, Oyo and Edo states, urging them to sustain enforcement efforts and intensify drug prevention campaigns under the War Against Drug Abuse initiative.
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