Crime
NDLEA Intercepts Cocaine Shipment, Arrests Suspect at Enugu Airport
A 30-year-old Italy-based businessman, Joseph Cyril, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu.
Cyril, who was heading to Italy via Addis Ababa and France, had ingested 98 wraps of cocaine.
The suspect was arrested at the departure hall of the airport on August 2 during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET930. He was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he excreted 98 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.510 kilograms.
Investigations revealed that Cyril arrived in Nigeria from Italy on July 13 and ingested the drug at a hotel in Awka, Anambra State, before proceeding to Enugu to board his flight to Europe on August 2.
According to Babafemi, the suspect stated that he had been doing business in Italy for years before agreeing to traffic the drug consignment for a fee of 3,500 Euros. He reportedly said he intended to use the money to relocate to Germany, where his family is based.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives also thwarted attempts by drug trafficking syndicates to export 1.2 kilograms of cocaine concealed in 25 pieces of phone chargers to Saudi Arabia at a courier firm in Lagos.
Similarly, an attempt to send 500 grams of cocaine hidden in the false bottom of a backpack to Italy was aborted at another logistics company on August 3.
In another operation, NDLEA officers intercepted a consignment containing 2.3 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, coming from the United States at another shipping company in Lagos on August 4.
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