India-Bound Passenger Ejects, Excretes 80 Wraps Of Ingested Cocaine

Another suspect

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), arrested Freeman Ogbonna, a Delhi, India-bound passenger, at the screening point of Terminal 2 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for ingesting 80 wraps of cocaine.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by the anti-narcotics agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, Ogbonna was arrested on March 31st while attempting to board a flight to Delhi, India via Doha on Qatar Airways with a Liberian international passport bearing the name Carr Bismark.

He was taken for a body scan, which tested positive for drug ingestion, and preliminary checks revealed his true identity as Freeman Ogbonna. He was then placed under observation in NDLEA custody, where he began to show signs of discomfort.

According to Babafemi, Ogbonna was choked by the volume of illicit drugs in his stomach and another substance taken to prevent excretion, and he soon began to retch before vomiting and excreting wraps of cocaine he had ingested almost simultaneously.

He said the suspect, who claimed he was recruited into drug trafficking by a relative, eventually passed out 80 wraps of cocaine weighing 889 grammes through his mouth and anus over four days.

Ogbonna was said to have claimed that he was given the drugs to swallow at a hotel in Ikeja’s Ipodo area in exchange for a cash reward of N300,000 if he delivered them successfully.

According to Babafemi, NDLEA officers at Lagos International Airport intercepted a drug mule, Imran Olalekan, at Gate C of Terminal 1 on his way to Oman with check-in luggage and a backpack last Wednesday. When the operatives thoroughly searched his check-in bag and backpack, they discovered a false bottom concealment of drugs in the check-in luggage and the backpack’s walls.

The NDLEA officers quickly moved in on a man who was accompanying the suspect to the airport. He was later identified as Ishola Olalekan, the person who recruited the trafficker.

Imran Olalekan told NDLEA officers that he returned from Dubai several years ago but still holds a valid residence permit on his old passport. He claimed he was promised N1.5 million if he successfully delivered the consignment in Oman, while his recruiter, Ishola, would be paid N200,000.

Babafemi stated that when the two bags were completely unpacked at the NDLEA office, a charm was discovered in one of the bags and another on the drug mule, who confessed that he travelled to Ibadan, Oyo state, to meet with an ‘Alfa’ who prepared the charm for him to ensure he was not apprehended during the journey.

He also revealed that another charm was discovered on the intermediary, Ishola Olalekan, who accompanied Taofeek to the airport’s departure area. Ishola claimed he obtained the charms for N70,000.

Last Wednesday, NDLEA agents intercepted 2,144 parcels weighing 1,072 kilogrammes of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, at Lagos’ Tincan seaport. The seizure occurred during a joint examination with Customs Service and other stakeholders of a container labelled GAOU 6699215 bound for Montreal but originally from Toronto, Canada.

He stated that the drugs, packed in 46 jumbo bags, were discovered hidden in used 2009 Lexus RX 350, 2011 Toyota Sienna, and 2009 Lexus ES 350 vehicles, as well as used engines, automobile doors, tyres, used household goods, and large drums loaded into the container.

In Kano, a 48-year-old suspect, Gidado Sani, who jumped bail granted by a Federal High Court in Kano on drug charges, was re-arrested last Friday in the Sharada area of the state with 85 blocks of cannabis weighing 50.1 kilogrammes, while NDLEA operatives in Ogun state arrested another suspect, Wasiu Jimoh, during a raid operation at Ilese Awo, with 84 parcels (62 kilogrammes) of cannabis sativa.

Operatives in Lagos last Wednesday intercepted a suspect, Emeka Umeh, with 506.2 kilogrammes cannabis at Igbede, Ojo area of the state, while another suspect, Victor Okeke, was nabbed last Friday at Igbo Elerin, Ojo, with 142 grammes of cannabis sativa and 175 litres of skuchies recovered from him, as well as an attempt by 35-year-old Ifeanyi Udogwu to smuggle 1.5 kilogrammes cocaine concealed in music speakers from Lagos through Aba, Abia state to his uncle, Ifeanyi Udogwu base

Meanwhile, commands across the country balanced drug supply reduction efforts with War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaigns in schools, markets, motor parks, worship centres, and communities.

While commending the MMIA, Tincan, Ogun, Kano, and Lagos Commands of the Agency for their efforts over the last week, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) urged them and their compatriots across the country to remain vigilant and intensify their offensive action against drug cartels, as well as their WADA advocacy campaign in every community nationwide.l