The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended a businessman at the local wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos, who allegedly excreted 68 wraps of cocaine, News About Nigeria reports.
According to a statement released on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the suspect, identified as 36-year-old Ibeanusi Nosike from Onitsha, Anambra State, was under observation for 12 days before excreting the cocaine.
Nosike was arrested in the early hours of Thursday, August 8, at the old domestic terminal of the Lagos airport as he attempted to board a flight to Abuja.
He was scheduled to join a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja later that day.
Babafemi detailed that Nosike had arrived in Lagos from Onitsha on August 7 and had checked into a hotel, where he swallowed the 68 wraps of cocaine before heading to the airport for his 6:30 am flight.
He was subsequently intercepted by NDLEA operatives and placed under observation, leading to the excretion of the cocaine pellets, which weighed a total of 1.282 kilogrammes.
In a related incident, another Vietnam-bound businessman, 54-year-old Paul Mbadugha, was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on August 12.
Mbadugha, who tested positive for cocaine ingestion, was detained during the outward clearance of a Qatar Airways flight to Hanoi, Vietnam.
After four days of observation, he excreted 88 wraps of cocaine, with a total weight of 1.710 kilogrammes.
Additionally, the NDLEA arrested another Onitsha-based businessman, Chukwudi Aligbo, after intercepting a consignment containing 1.20 kilogrammes of cannabis concealed in a package destined for Dubai, UAE.
The shipment was seized at the export shed of the Lagos airport, and investigations revealed it was sent through a courier company in Onitsha.
Aligbo was subsequently arrested in Onitsha on Saturday, August 17, following a series of follow-up operations.
