Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a fake couple, Kingsley and Roseline Ilonzeh who ingested 184 wraps of cocaine.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the suspected drug traffickers were purportedly going for medical treatment in India.
Babafemi said that the drugs weighed 3.322Kg, while another 100 grammes of the drug was concealed in the woman’s private part.
He said that the two suspects were intercepted at the Screening Point 1, Terminal 1 of the international wing of the Lagos airport on Aug. 1, while attempting to board an Ethiopian airline flight to India.
Babafemi further said that though their travel documents showed consistency in their names and depicted them as a couple, an NDLEA officer however, decided to subject them to body scan.
He said that the scan confirmed the couple ingested drugs as a result of which they were later placed on excretion observation at the agency’s facility.
“Their travel documents identified the man as Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and the lady to be Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum.
“Preliminary investigation reveals that the intending passengers are not a couple but obtained the travel documents in the same surname to beat security checks at the airport.
“The lady later gave her real name as Ngogbike Nkechi. During interview, she confessed that she was recruited in her Church in Aba, Abia where she lives.
“The suspect, Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum (aka Ngogbike Nkechi) states further that she is a divorcee and that Kingsley, with whom she is travelling is not her husband but connected only for the purpose of the illicit drug business trip.
“She said that Kingsley, her arranged husband brought the pellets of cocaine to ingest her in the hotel where they both lodged in separate rooms on July, 31, ” he said.
The NDLEA spokesperson said that after their arrest, a thorough search conducted on her led to the discovery of a big size wrap of cocaine that weighed 100 grammes which she inserted into her private part.
He said that the suspected drug trafficker confessed that she was promised $5,000 upon successful delivery of the drug in India.
Kingsley claimed he was promised $2,000 after a successful delivery of the drug in India.
“A further search of the agency’s crime data base reveals that Kingsley also obtained his travel documents with fake identity for the trip.
“Indeed, it has been established that he was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on March 19, 2022, for ingesting 100 wraps of cocaine weighing 2.243kgs upon his arrival from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on board an Ethiopian airline flight.
“His travel documents then contained his real name: Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian,” he said.
He noted that after his arrest at the Abuja airport on March 19, 2022, with another suspect, Iro Elvis Uche, who also ingested 65 wraps of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.376kgs, Uwaezuoke was subsequently arraigned.
Babafemi said that he was arraigned before Justice Zainab Abubakar of the Federal High Court Abuja with charge number: FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2022.
He said that the suspect was eventually granted bail by the court, pending the conclusion of his trial.
“He is still on the court bail when he was arrested at the Lagos airport for a similar offence on Aug. 1.
“Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi (aka Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian) excreted a total of 82 wraps of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.822kgs in five excretions.
“Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum (aka Ngogbike Nkechi) ingested 101 wraps in four excretions with a big size wrap of the substance recovered from her private part, all weighing 1.50kgs, ” he said.
