Woman Arrested Over Cocaine Importation

A Lagos businesswoman, Imonle Funke, has been arraigned before a federal high court in Lagos on a one-count criminal charge of importation of drugs into Nigeria. 

 According to the said criminal charge filed before a federal high court in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, by the NDLEA prosecuting counsel, Mrs. F.N. Ajagu, the accused Imonle Funke on 15 April, 2012 was alleged to have imported into the country 25 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa(Indian hemp).

 Mr. Ajagun alleged further that the cannabis sativa was concealed in the luggage of the accused woman and was discovered when the luggage was searched. 

 The offence allegedly committed by the accused is contrary to and punishable under section 14 (b) of the NDLEA law cap 30 law of the federation, 2004. 

 The accused pleaded not guilty and was consequently granted bail in the sum of N500,000 with one surety who must swear to an affidavit of means while the case was adjourned till 18 September, 2012 for trial.

Read More...

Female NYSC Member Arrested With Cocaine In Abuja

Ladies who maintain long distance relationships with unknown persons on Facebook may need to be careful with the level of commitments they get themselves involved in.

As you read this, a female NYSC member is now in the custody of the NDLEA over a drug parcel sent by her London-based Facebook friend.

The lady had, at the weekend, received a telephone call from her London friend about the arrival of a parcel with instructions on whom to hand it to once she collected it.

The parcel had arrived Lagos enroute Abuja, at the weekend, but officials of the courier firm in collaboration with NDLEA operatives decided to open the parcel before the beneficiary was allowed to take it away.

During checking, the vigilant operatives discovered a pack of cocaine. The parcel, a small container, has within it three packs of cocaine concealed inside a wall clock.

The lady under interrogation confessed that she met the man on Facebook and was under instruction to hand over the parcel to another friend also based in Abuja.

She also confessed that this was not the first time she would be collecting parcels from her London-based friend. Even the shoe she was wearing at the point of her arrest was said to be a 'gift' from the same friend.

Read More...

NDLEA arrests Pakistani with N120m heroin

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a 35-year-old Pakistani with 13 kilogrammes of “high grade” heroin with an estimated street value of about N120m.

The anti-drug agency said the suspect, Mr. Syed Ahmed-Bukhari, (pictured above) was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, shortly after arriving aboard a Qatar Airways flight from Doha.

A statement by the Head, Public Affairs, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, said Ahmed-Bukhari was found with parcels of brownish powdery substances that tested positive to heroin.

The agency believed the arrest had aborted the entry of a perilous Pakistani drug cartel into the country.

The statement quoted the Chief Executive Officer, NDLEA, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, as stressing that the agency would make drug trafficking unprofitable through regular seizures.

“Drug trafficking is attractive to criminal cartels because of the huge profit but we are determined to make it unprofitable through regular seizures, arrest and prosecution,” Giade said

The NDLEA Airport Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, said the suspect was carrying a Pakistani international passport with number BT3347071.

Umar said, “A 35-year-old Pakistani was apprehended following the discovery of 13 kilogrammes of high grade heroin in his hand luggage. A Nigerian clearing and forwarding agent by name Okereke Chukwudi, 42, who is suspected to be an accomplice has also been arrested and investigation had commenced.”

Ahmed-Bukhari, an electrical engineer, who hails from Karachi is believed to be working for a Pakistan-based drug cartel, according to the statement.

He was found to have travelled from Karachi to Abu Dhabi aboard Pakistan Airline flight before taking Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Lagos.

Ofoyeju said the suspected accomplice, Chukwudi, who hails from Ekulobia, Anambra State, was cooperating with narcotic investigators.

NDLEA boss added that the arrest of the Pakistani few days after three Bolivians were caught in a suspected case of methamphetamine production was a demonstration of the agency’s resolve to bring drug traffickers to justice.

Giade said, “The anti-drug crusade is total and must be pursued with determination. While working hard to prevent the involvement of our citizens in drug trafficking, the agency will resist attempt by foreigners to smuggle drugs into the country.

“The NDLEA Act applies to all culprits. We shall yet be more vigilant and ensure that illicit drugs are intercepted in our country.”

NDLEA said both suspects would be charged to court soon.

Read More...

Another Nigerian Excretes 86 Wraps of Heroin In US

While undergoing minor questioning by federal agents at the Washington Dulles International Airport, in the United States, Michael Ayodele excreted pellets which tested positive for heroin.

On the 16th of January, 2012, Ayodele arrived at Dulles on a flight from Zurich, Switzerland. Based on suspicion he was referred to Customs and Border Protection agents for a secondary inspection. He told the agents that he was returning from Nigeria, where he had been visiting his family.

He was said to have requested for permission to use the bathroom and was allowed. But in the process, agents heard items being dropped into a toilet and learnt that Ayodele was expelling heroin pellets he had swallowed.

He has been dragged before a Federal Court in Alexandria for trafficking banned substances.

Ayodele is in custody pending further court proceedings later in the week.

Read More...

Model Smuggling Cocaine Inside Fake Br*ast and Buttock Implants, Arrested

Rome, Dec 22: Italian police have arrested a beautiful model trying to smuggle more than £250,000 of cocaine into the country inside br*ast and buttock implants, Daily Mail reported. 

The 33-year-old woman, identified only by the initials MFM, was held by officers as she tried to distract them with her plunging neckline and tight-fitting outfit at Rome’s Fiumicino airport.

But her plan backfired as they were so captivated by her looks they pulled her over for questioning and discovered the drugs when she failed to explain why she had been to South America. The woman had flown to Rome from Sao Paolo in Brazil and a search by female officers revealed the fake br*ast and buttock implants she was wearing had also been used to hide 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg) of cocaine.

Police said the class A drug was destined for the Italian market around Rome and the seizure came just days after £1million of cocaine was found hidden in the wheel arches of a truck that had arrived on a ferry from Spain. 

Antonio Di Greco, police chief at Fiumicino airport, said: ‘The route she arrived on is very well used by drugs traffickers and her looks immediately caught the attention of the officers on duty. 

“She had tried to distract them with a plunging neckline and tight outfit but they stopped her for questioning because she was so alluring and her story about why she was in South America just fell apart.

‘She actually became quite aggressive and was taken away for more detailed questioning by two female officers and that’s when the drugs were found hidden in the plastic br*ast and buttock implants. ‘The extremely pure cocaine crystals were found moulded into the implants that she was wearing.’ He added that last week 130lbs (59 kg) of cocaine had been seized at Fiumicino and ten people arrested as they tried to smuggle the drugs in hidden in various objects - including toilet rolls - or by swallowing packets. 

Five years ago in a similar bust a 24-year-old model was arrested at Catania airport on the island of Sicily after it emerged she had swallowed 98 bags containing around 2lbs of cocaine. The model held at Rome airport is now in custody accused of international drug trafficking.

Read More...

Nigerian Woman Caught With 35 Pellets of Cocain In Her Stomach At Dulles Airport

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said they busted a woman for smuggling heroin into Dulles International Airport last month. The woman allegedly swallowed the drugs. Sixty-one year old Olanrewaju Foashade Halimat arrived at Dulles from Ethiopia on September 22nd, according to a CBP press release.

Officials said they routinely conduct random inspection operations on arriving and departing passengers, looking for drugs, weapons, and other prohibited products. During an interview with Halimat, who is from Nigeria, CBP officers allegedly found inconsistencies in her story. They later x-rayed her and discovered “foreign objects” inside her abdomen. 

At that time, they filed a criminal affidavit against her. Halimat passed those objects, which turned out to be 47 pellets of heroin, officials said. They weighed about 500 grams, with a street value of $35,000. CBP officers turned Halimat and the heroin over to the U.S. Customs and Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation agents. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is now prosecuting Halimat. Ingesting narcotics pellets is a high-risk proposition which can lead to almost certain overdose if it breaches inside a carrier’s intestines, CBP officials said. CBP said the charges and allegations in criminal complaints are accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Read More...