A 56-year-old widow and mother of four, Mrs Ajisegiri Kehinde Sidika has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos for attempting to traffic 400grams of cocaine concealed in her footwear to Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
The suspect who claims to be a businesswoman trading in adult and children’s wear on Lagos Island was intercepted on Sunday 13th November while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight going to Saudi Arabia via Doha.
NigeriaCrime.com learned that during a critical examination of the pair of sandals she was wearing, two parcels of cocaine weighing 400grams were recovered from them”.
According to Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy, the suspect was intercepted on Sunday 13th November while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight going to Saudi Arabia via Doha.
Similarly, attempts by a tricycle parts seller, Ayoade Kehinde Tayo to send 1kg of Tramadol 225mg and Rohypnol to Istanbul, Turkey via Cairo on an Egypt Airline flight same day were also frustrated by NDLEA operatives who arrested him.
He was at the airport to hand over the drugs hidden inside a bag of food items to an intending passenger, Idowu Ayoade but was arrested before he succeeded in doing that.
An intending passenger to Oman via Asky airline, Agbamuche Bright Nkeonye and a lady, Adeoye Oluwakemi Fatimo who accompanied him to present a bag containing varieties of foodstuffs and body lotion which were used to conceal 1.10kg Cannabis and some Rohypnol capsules were also arrested at the departure hall of the Lagos airport on Thursday 18th November.
Anti-narcotics officers attached to the SAHCO export shed of the airport equally foiled attempts by traffickers to smuggle consignments of cannabis and ecstasy tablets concealed in three tubers of yam going to Dubai, UAE on Wednesday 17th Nov.
The freight agent who presented the yams for export, Inegbu Ugochi Akunna was promptly arrested while the consignor, Ahmodu Sulaimon was also nabbed thereafter.
At the Brawal container shed of Kirikiri lighter terminal in Lagos, NDLEA operatives equally intercepted cartons of deadly drinks in a container marked APZU3671697 during a joint examination with Customs.
Though the bill of lading indicated that the container originated from Cape town, South Africa, a search of the shippers’ database showed it was loaded from Antwerp, Belgium.
A full inspection of the container on Thursday 18th Nov showed a total of five cartons of beverages labelled as Euphoria cannabis beer and three cartons of cannabis energy drink were found. Other drinks in the container include 21 cartons of a drink labelled as monkey shoulder; 20 cartons of dead man’s finger; and 139 of champagne fruit, among others.
Continuing Babademi said, “In a related development, not less than 5.6 kilograms of methamphetamine, cocaine and tramadol were discovered in items like play stations, bicycles, motor propellers and local fabrics packaged for export to Australia and Cyprus through some courier firms in Lagos.