•The suspects
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 48-year-old businessman, Orizu Ifeanyi Arthur, while allegedly attempting to board an Air France flight 844 from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA Abuja to Paris, France with ingested 74 wraps of heroin and cocaine.
Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, disclosed this in a statement.
He said Orizu was arrested at the boarding gate of the Abuja airport on Sunday, December 22, 2024 during the outward clearance of passengers on Air France, reports Daily Independent. When he was pulled aside for body scan, he turned down the request claiming his medical condition won’t allow him.
He was thereafter taken into custody for excretion observation during which he excreted a total of 74 wraps of the Class A drugs over a period of seven days.
In his statement, Orizu claimed he owns a shop at Balogun market, Lagos Island where he sells school and travelling bags, adding that he was promised 3,000 Euros upon successful delivery of the consignment in Paris.
He left his base in Lagos for the Abuja airport to connect his Air France flight to Paris, hoping to escape detection.
In another interdiction effort, operatives of the Marine Command of NDLEA at 2:30 a.m. on Christmas eve, Tuesday 24th December intercepted two boats loaded with 1,960 kilogrammes of Ghanaian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis at the Eleko beach in Lekki area of Lagos.
Six foreign nationals who brought the consignments from Ghana were arrested during the operation. They include: two Ghanaians: Godsway John, 38; and Freedom Kelvin, 33; as well as four Beninese Chegoun Hounsou, 23; Gadabor Nyameto, 47; Adantg Sasa, 34; and Ayao Kayivi, 21.
In Katsina, a suspect Ibrahim Shaibu, 35, was arrested in possession of 40 album-size parcels of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 35kg on Christmas day at Central Motor Park, Katsina, while another suspect Umar Ahmed, 47, was nabbed along Zaria-Malumfashi road, Katsina with 27 parcels of same psychoactive substance weighing 13.5kg on Saturday, December 28.
