The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a South African woman with 36.65kg of cocaine at Lagos airport and a Lagos-based car dealer accused of receiving and arranging lodging for her.
The company additionally arrested a Nigerian-American woman with 9.45kg of hashish often known as loud after she arrived in Nigeria from the United States.
In an announcement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi recognized the South African woman as Qhina Beauty, 34.
He defined that she was arrested on 7 October on the departure corridor of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, whereas making ready to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa by way of Doha.
A search of her two luggage uncovered 30 blocks of cocaine weighing 36.65kg, the NDLEA stated, including that the medicine have been wrapped in Sellotape, divided into seven parcels and laced with dried pepper.
Ms Beauty reportedly instructed investigators that she arrived in Nigeria on 30 September to gather the consignment. She stated one other South African woman recruited her and promised to pay her 20,000 rand after supply.
She additionally recognized two different folks allegedly concerned within the operation: one based mostly within the United States and the opposite a Lagos car dealer, the assertion stated.
The company stated it arrested the dealer, Uchenna Victor Umunnakwe, 46, on 14 October at Apple Junction, Ago Palace Way, Lagos, after preserving him beneath surveillance at his residence in Shasha.
Mr Umunnakwe reportedly admitted receiving Ms Beauty on the airport and arranging her keep at Santiago Hotel in Amuwo-Odofin.
The company famous that he later moved her to Cynarisso Hotel close to the airport forward of her departure.
Previous cocaine seizure
The arrests come about two months after the NDLEA introduced the seizure of 184.5kg of cocaine, valued at an estimated N39 billion, in Lagos.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the cocaine was intercepted whereas being ready for export by a courier logistics firm. The operation led to the arrests of Kazeem Afolabi, popularly often known as KC Luxury, and Lawal Kehinde, a logistics firm worker.
The NDLEA described Mr Afolabi because the alleged Nigerian coordinator of a global drug trafficking syndicate.
It stated the community used Nigeria as a transit level to maneuver cocaine from South America to the United Kingdom, different elements of Europe and Asia.
The company described the seizure as the biggest interception of cocaine by a courier channel in its historical past.
Nigerian-American woman arrested with hashish
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives arrested Anetor Gloria Ubong, 62, a realtor based mostly in Richmond, Texas, at Lagos airport on 21 October after she arrived on a United Airlines flight from Houston.
Ms Ubong, who holds Nigerian and United States passports, had 18 parcels of Loud weighing 9.45kg in one in every of her two checked-in bins. The medicine have been hid in a field lined with gift-wrapping paper.
According to the company, she instructed investigators that her daughter and her daughter’s future brother-in-law had delivered the field to her residence within the US. She stated she was to ship it in Nigeria to her daughter’s fiancé, recognized as Jibola.
In one other operation in Lagos, a particular unit of the company arrested Eletu Rasheedat, 41, within the Eti Osa space on 23 October.
The operatives recovered 5,820 drugs of diazepam, 780 tablets of tramadol, 3.7kg of skunk and 230.25 litres of skuchies.
Seizures throughout different states
In Delta State, operatives arrested Peter Ugochukwu, 51, in Warri and recovered hundreds of opioid capsules and tablets, bottles of codeine syrup and different substances.
The seizures included 29,350 capsules of tramadol, 6,620 tablets of tramadol 200mg, 4,116 bottles of codeine syrup, 11,340 tablets of Rohypnol and three,500 tablets of diazepam.
Officers additionally recovered 300 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 200 ampoules of diazepam injection, and portions of tramadol 225mg, Molly and Cocodamol.
The NDLEA stated the suspect and a white Hummer bus have been handed over to the company by the Nigeria Police Force in Delta State.
In a separate operation at Enhere Junction, Warri, officers arrested Helen Bakporo Samson, 46, on 19 October with 6kg of skunk.
In Oyo State, operatives arrested Fajana Dada Oluwaseyi, 41, within the Adamasingba space of Ibadan on 19 October. The company stated he had escaped arrest after officers seized 197.8kg of hashish from his home on 16 September.
In Kano State, a raid in Gerawa on 22 October led to the arrest of Murtala Lawan, 30, and the seizure of 159 blocks of hashish weighing 97.2kg.
In Taraba State, operatives arrested Raiyanu Misa, 39, on the Lankaviri checkpoint in Yorro Local Government Area on 23 October with 95 blocks of compressed hashish weighing 60.175kg.
On the identical day, the police handed over one other suspect to the NDLEA after arresting him at Dakka village in Bali Local Government Area with 112 blocks of hashish weighing 81.49kg.
In Niger State, officers arrested Emmanuel Ekene, 26, on the Sabo-Kainji Road in Borgu Local Government Area on 19 October with 64,000 opioid drugs, together with tramadol and diazepam.
In Bauchi State, operatives arrested Jamilu Mustapha, also called Last Card, 45, at Nasaru Town in Ningi Local Government Area on 21 October. They recovered 379kg of hashish packed in seven sacks.
NDLEA destroys hashish farms in Ondo, Edo
In Ondo State, operatives raided a farm at Board-Ala, Akure South, on 20 October and recovered 56 deserted luggage of hashish weighing 583kg.
READ ALSO: NDLEA rearrests 83-year-old woman months after drug conviction
In Edo State, the company destroyed two hashish farms in Ugbada Forest, Uzebba, Owan West Local Government Area, on 18 October. The farms had an estimated yield of two,023.14kg.
The operatives burnt 450kg of processed hashish on the website and took one other 97kg as reveals.
In a separate operation at Ewe group in Owan West, officers arrested Mary Edokhai, 42, with 35kg of hashish.
The NDLEA chairman, Buba Marwa, recommended the officers concerned within the operations and urged them to maintain efforts towards drug trafficking and substance abuse.
The company additionally stated its instructions continued public consciousness campaigns beneath its War Against Drug Abuse programme, together with periods for college kids and faculty employees.
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