Two Nigerian men based in Europe have been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, while attempting to smuggle 3.46kg of cocaine to Paris, France, after ingesting 200 wraps of the drug.
The suspects were intercepted on Wednesday during the outward clearance of an Air France flight, AF 832, from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, said the first suspect, who claimed to live in France and work in a factory, arrived in Nigeria on October 21 for a short holiday but was arrested while attempting to return.
He said a body scan conducted on the suspect confirmed the presence of foreign objects in his stomach.
The suspect subsequently admitted to ingesting 110 cocaine pellets, which he excreted under observation. The wraps tested positive for cocaine and weighed 1.901kg.
The second suspect, who was travelling on the same flight, was also intercepted at the airport’s departure hall after his body scan indicated that he had ingested illicit substances.
Babafemi said the man admitted to swallowing 90 cocaine pellets and later excreted all of them under observation.
The wraps tested positive for cocaine and weighed 1.559kg.
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In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives patrolling the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway arrested a woman at a toll gate with 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition.
The agency also arrested a 68-year-old man at Gwargwaje, Zaria, along the Zaria-Kano Expressway, with 2,770 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 100 ampoules of diazepam injection, 11,000 tablets of diazepam and 4,500 tablets of Exol-5.
Meanwhile, the agency said its commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the past week.
The activities included enlightenment lectures at Obawole Grammar School II, Ojodu, Lagos; Nsukka High School, Enugu State; Government Technical College, Dorayi Babba, Kano State; and Ajagbe Comprehensive High School, Iperu, Ogun State.
The NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, commended officers of the Abuja airport and Lagos commands for the arrests and seizures.
Marwa described the interception of the two cocaine couriers as a warning to Nigerians who believe that living abroad could shield them from detection while trafficking drugs across the country’s borders.
He said NDLEA operatives at entry and exit points remained vigilant and warned against the dangers of ingesting illicit drugs for financial rewards.
The agency chairman also urged officers across the country to sustain their operations against drug trafficking networks while strengthening drug demand reduction efforts through public sensitisation.
NAN
