Due to attempts to export cocaine and painkillers, the NDLEA has detained auto parts trader Arinze Ora and businesswoman Adewunmi Adebola, both of Ibadan.
Businesswoman Mrs. Adewunmi Adebola and auto parts trader Arinze Ora disagreed about attempts to ship cocaine and opioid consignments to Congo Brazzaville and London, respectively.
In a statement released on Sunday by NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, it was stated that on Friday, September 6, 2024, officers of the anti-narcotics agency at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos had intercepted a cargo headed for the United Kingdom. After a thorough search of the consignment, it was discovered that 5,250 tablets of rohypnol and 924 bottles of codeine-based syrup, each weighing 135.7 kilogrammes, had been concealed among cartons of food items.
According to Babafemi, Owojori Olanrewaju, the freight agent who presented the cargo for export, was arrested right away. Adewunmi Akeem, another suspect, was also arrested after more investigation revealed that his mother, Mrs. Adewunmi Adebola, 58, had sent him the consignment from Ibadan to deliver to the agent. A follow up operation on September 7th, according to the spokesperson, resulted in Mrs. Adewunmi’s arrest in Ibadan, where she is involved in the export of goods and food items. Owojori acknowledged in his statement that he has been helping Mrs. Adewunmi export cargoes to the UK and that he was paid N2,411,000.00 for the service, when he had previously received N2.1 million for a comparable consignment that he had handled for the businesswoman.
Similarly, on Wednesday at the Lagos airport’s export shed, NDLEA agents stopped certain cartons of automobile parts and powder custard that were being transported by Ethiopian Airlines to Congo Brazzaville. After a thorough examination of the cargo, 300 grams of cocaine were found hidden among some auto components and containers of Checkers powder custard.
According to Babafemi, a follow-up operation resulted in the consignment’s sender, Arinze Ora, an auto parts dealer in the Trade Fair Auto Parts Wing in the Amuwo Odofin neighborhood of Lagos, being taken into custody.
Ikechukwu Ikeabba and Ugochukwu Ikeabba, two brothers who are allegedly the sponsors of drug traffickers who specialize in exporting drugs by ingestion to Vietnam, were taken into custody by NDLEA Special Operations Unit agents last Tuesday.
According to an NDLEA spokesman, their arrest came after a thorough investigation into the previous arrest of Ibeanusi Nosike, a businessman from Onitsha. Nosike was arrested by NDLEA agents at the local wing of the Lagos airport, and after 12 days of excretion observation, he released 68 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.282 kilogrammes. Babafemi said that on Thursday, August 8, 2024, in the wee hours of the morning, Ibeanusi, 36, was taken into custody at the old domestic terminal of the Lagos airport while he was trying to board the first flight from Lagos to Abuja. That same day, he was supposed to board a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Mustapha Yahaya last Tuesday by agents in Lagos state near the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
He continued by saying that during a joint inspection of the containers with representatives from the Customs Service and other security agencies at the Tincan port in Lagos last Tuesday, NDLEA agents found at least 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup in two containers that were shipped from India. The containers were among those that NDLEA had targeted for a thorough examination.
Babafemi added that throughout the previous week, the agency’s formations and commands around the nation carried out their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns in a variety of settings, including communities, workplaces, houses of worship, and schools.
Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, praised the officers and men of the Special Operations Unit, MMIA, Tincan, Lagos, Gombe, Kaduna, Bauchi, and Ekiti commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures and said that their operational successes and those of their fellow citizens throughout the nation are greatly appreciated.
But he urged them to keep up the pressure on ongoing initiatives to reduce drug demand and supply.
