Some unscrupulous members of an international drug syndicate that operates between Brazil, Ethiopia and Nigeria to smuggle into Lagos, a total of 845 wraps of cocaine weighing 18.72 kilograms has been thwarted and the consignments recovered by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja.
According to the NDLEA spokesperson, Babafemi Femi in a statement in Abuja on Sunday revealed that the drug consignments is worth N4,492,800,000 in street value.
They were said to have been recovered from two lavatories of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft during the post landing cleaning of the cabin of flight ET900 from Addis Ababa to Lagos on Tuesday, 29th October 2024.
The illicit drug consignments were wrapped in nine polythene bags and hidden in the waste collectors in the two rear lavatories of the aircraft, from where they were recovered after the MMIA Strategic Command of NDLEA was alerted about the strange objects.
No fewer than 30 suspects have so far been grilled in connection with the seizure.
Investigations revealed that the seized drugs were conveyed from Brazil to Ethiopia through ingestion and excreted in Addis Ababa by a set of couriers while some other traffickers picked them up and attempted to smuggle them into Nigeria through the Lagos airport before their attempt was frustrated with the cooperation of the airline’s authorities and other airport stakeholders.
While commending the officers and men of MMIA, DOGI, Apapa, Kogi, FCT, Adamawa, Katsina, Kaduna, Ondo, Taraba, and Edo Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) also applauded their compatriots in all the commands across the country for intensifying the WADA sensitization lectures and advocacy messages to every part of their areas of responsibility.
About The Author
