'I Wanted To Raise Money For My Wedding' - Caught Drug Trafficker Confesses

 Chike pauline (pictured above) was caught by the NDLEA on Monday during a screening of passengers on Rwanda Air flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, with one kilogramme of substance suspected to be methamphetamine.

 The Aba-based businessman was arrested on his way to Bujumbura, Burundi. On what pushed him into the drug trafficking business, he said he is a hardworking man, and that luck was just against him as he was pushed into the business because he wanted to raise money for his wedding billed for December.

“I am a patent medicine dealer in Aba, Abia State. My arrest is very unfortunate because I am a hardworking person.“I was deceived into drug trafficking because I was desperate to perform my marriage ceremony by the end of the year.''“I was optimistic that I will not be arrested, but things did not go according to my expectation.“What must I do to set myself free from this predicament?” Chike asked with the hopes of being discharged before his proposed wedding.

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Eight Nigerians to Celebrate Sallah Behind Bars after being Caught with 10.635kg of Drugs

As the citizens of the country are gearing up for this year’s Sallah celebrations, some eight Nigerians will most certainly not be joining in the celebrations. These Nigerians were apprehended by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Thursday for allegedly smuggling about 10.635 kilogrammes of narcotics at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA)Lagos.

Amongst the drug suspects apprehended was one Mr. Tembo Gideon ,aka Benson Okechukwu, who was travelling to Thailand with about 2.522kilogrammes of methamphetamine tactically hidden inside local fabrics called Aso-Oke.

NDLEA commander at the Lagos Airport, Mr Hamza Umar, while speaking on the arrest, pointed out that the suspects were arrested with various kind of drugs ranging from cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin among others. According to Umar, the breakdown of drugs recovered included “4.460kilogrammes of methamphetamine, 4.030kilogrammes of heroin and 2.145 kilogrammes of cocaine. Apart from one of the suspects caught attempting to smuggle 3.455kilogrammes of heroin from India, others were going outside the country with different quantities of drugs”

Meanwhile, chairman of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade in his Sallah message urged members of the public to desist from smuggling drugs and criminal acts capable of truncating their God ordained destinies: “It is sad that these suspected drug traffickers are behind bars when they ought to be with their families this festive season. Drug trafficking and other criminal acts will only lead to misery, shame and unfulfilled dreams.”

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Cocaine Hidden In Pendants Found At Lagos Airport(photos)

 Oluigboka Chukwuemeka Emmanuel thought he had cleverly concealed about 2.4 kilogrammes of cocaine in pendants and female belts.But his luck ran out when he was intercepted by Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement officials.

The 33-year old suspect had just disembarked from a flight from Brazil when he was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed international airport in Lagos, southwest Nigeria.

“During search, powdery substances that tested positive for cocaine were found in his bag. It took several hours to extract the cocaine from the pendants because of the complex method of concealment,” said Mitchell Ofoyeju, NDLEA Head of Public Affairs.

The agency’s airport commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, disclosed that the drug was factory packed inside assorted pendants. He described the mode of concealment as unusual.

“This mode of concealment is strange and it is the first time of discovering drugs inside jewellery,” he said.

Umar explained that the drugs were industrially packed in ear rings, buttons, necklaces, bangles as well as in female belts.“We had to forcefully open them to recover the drugs. The entire quantity of cocaine found in the jewellery products weighed 2.472kg. One arrest has been made in connection with the seizure,” Umar said.

NDLEA said preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect, who had lived in Brazil for over five years, is believed to be working for a suspected Brazilian-based drug syndicate.

The suspect was quoted as saying, “I needed money for the burial anniversary of my late father. 

 As the breadwinner, everybody is looking up to me for the sponsorship of the anniversary. I have lived in Brazil for over five years but I have no money to undertake this important family responsibility. My interest was the 2,000 euros they promised to pay me”.

Oluigboka is married and has a child. He hails from Imo State. The arrest took place last week.Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, was quoted as saying: “Although drug barons are becoming more desperate, the agency is determined to frustrate their efforts.

 This seizure is yet an indication that drug traffickers can go to any length in hiding their drugs from law enforcement agents”.The NDLEA boss also called for more public support in the anti-narcotic campaign.“The suspect will soon be charged to court,” NDLEA said.

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N160m heroin abandoned at Lagos Airport

Sniffer dogs of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, yesterday recorded their first major seizure of narcotics after they detected a heroin-laden consignment from Iran.

 The brownish substance that tested positive was packed in white transparent polythene and hidden inside metal pipes. The drug, which was industrially packed was brought as cargo on an KLM flight from the Republic of Iran. 

The estimated street value of the drug in Lagos, Nigeria was about N160 million and could be four times higher in international market said an NDLEA official. The Agency conducted 100 percent search because of the alert given by the sniffer dogs. 

A welder was invited to forcefully cut the pipe opened. The effort paid off when the heroin was found. The cargo with Air Waybill number 0747419547 was addressed to one Mr. Nnaemeka Chinedu Joseph of 64, Ladipo Industrial Road, Mushin Lagos.

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NDLEA nabs grandma, teenager over Indian hemp trafficking

The Osun State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 60-year-old grandmother, Aduke Adebusuyi, and 18-year-old Lateef Hammed for allegedly trafficking Cannabis Sativa, popularly called Indian Hemp. 

 The state commander of the agency, Mrs Anthonia Udu, who disclosed this yesterday in an interview with newsmen in Osogbo, said they were nabbed along the Iwo-Ibadan road on March 17, when officers of the command were on a surveillance patrol. “She was with a bag of Indian Hemp weighing 7.2 kg when she was arrested. 

We have been on her trail for the past six months. The woman, who has only one child and many grand children usually transports the weeds from Ibadan to her partners in Iwo”, she said. 

 The commander said men of the command were on alert to ensure that drug traffickers do not get away with the crime. “We need concerted efforts to deal with Indian hemp cultivation and trafficking, therefore, all hands must be on deck to combat the crime”, she said.

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NDLEA arrests 8, 639 suspects, says Baba Suwe’s case abnormal

National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, yesterday, said that it arrested 8,639 drug suspects last year of which 8,072 suspects were males while 567 were females.

Chairman of the agency, Mr. Ahmadu Giade, who spoke at the Lagos headquarters office of the agency, while presenting its scorecard for 2011, described the controversy generated by the arrest and investigation of Yoruba actor, Mr. Babatunde Omidina, alias Baba Suwe as abnormal.

Giade was quick to add that the agency would not be deterred by any controversy in whatever guise in its effort to flush out illicit drug dealers in the country.

Describing the arrest and investigation of Baba Suwe as a celebrated case, which generated abnormal controversy, Giade said: “The case of popular comedian, Baba Suwe was a celebrated one, which generated abnormal controversy. His case was very abnormal.”

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NDLEA arrests man with 47 bags of Cannabis

A 40-year-old man has been arrested by men of Ogun Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with 47 bags of drugs suspected to be Cannabis Sativa.

The Commander of NDLEA in Ogun, Mr Mohammed Mohammed, said on Monday in Abeokuta that the suspect was arrested in Abeokuta.

Mohammed said that the suspected illicit drugs were concealed in a specially made compartment in a lorry for onward movement to Ibadan where the buyers were waiting.

According to commander, the drugs, neatly concealed inside 47 bags weigh 461 kilogrammes.

He said, “Test conducted by our laboratory confirmed the content to be Cannabis Sativa.”

Mohammed further revealed that the arrest of the suspect and subsequent interception of the drugs was as a result of surveillance by his men.

He said that officials of the agency were on trial of the suspect for more than 48 hours before he was eventual arrested.

He said that the command received information about the suspect through an informant, and that the 47 bags of Cannabis Sativa were meant to be delivered in Ibadan were the buyers were waiting.

While commended his men for the gallant performance, Mohammed said that the command would leave no stone unturned in its determination to clean the state of illicit drugs.

He said that the command, had between August 2011 and March, seized about three tonnes of Cannabis Sativa, while about 230 suspects had been arrested across the state in the period under review.

The NDLEA boss said that the suspect would be arraign in court as soon as possible.

However, the suspect, who denied knowledge of the content of the container said that “the driver of the vehicle just gave me a lift from Lagos to Abeokuta.

“It is true that l was the one caught with the vehicle because the driver said l should wait for him; please help me beg them to have mercy on me,” he pleaded.

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NDLEA Drags Baba Suwe To Court Again

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Wednesday asked a Lagos High Court in Ikeja to stay execution of its earlier order that the it should pay N25m to Nollywood actor, Mr. Babatunde Omidina for violating his rights to personal liberty.

Justice Yetunde Idowu, in her judgement condemned the Agency’s disregard for the actor’s constitutionally guaranteed rights, and had also ordered the agency to tender public apology published on “conspicuous pages of two national daily newspapers within 21 days.”

While declaring that Baba Suwe be set free, Justice Idowu said, “If you can treat Nigerian citizen this way, what are you portraying to the outside world.”

She has however fixed March 2, 2012, for ruling on the latest application by the NDLEA.

Baba Suwe was arrested on October 12, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos by operatives of the NDLEA on the suspicion of ingestion of substances likely to be banned drugs.

He was released on the order of Justice Idowu on November 4, after 24 days in detention.

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NDLEA arrests man with drugs stuffed inside tin tomato

A 26-year-old man has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for alleged drug trafficking. The suspect, identified as Nzeka Chika, who was heading to Malaysia, was caught with over 1.800kg of methamphetamine worth over N5 million, stuffed into tin tomatoes at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos.

The suspect who claimed to be ignorant of death sentence for drug offenders in Malaysia is being interrogated by anti-narcotic agents over unlawful exportation of the drugs. Officers of the agency who made the arrest at the weekend following the discovery of drugs inside tomato paste at Lagos, Nigeria, said the suspect is cooperating with investigators.

According to a source, the drug which was industrially packaged in two big tin tomato containers, clothes and foodstuff was detected during the outward screening of an Egypt Air flight to Malaysia at the Lagos airport . NDLEA Airport Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar who gave the name of the suspect, as Nzeka Chika, a commercial motorcycle rider in Okigwe, Imo State said he was still under interrogation.

“The two big tin tomato pastes with 1.8kg of methamphetamine were in Nzeka’s bag containing clothes and foodstuff like yams, rice, beans, garri and spaghetti. The food items were meant to distract officers from the tomato pastes” Hamza stated.

Similarly, NDLEA operatives at the Lagos State Command arrested a drug peddler, identified as Yomi Kito. Sources said the arrest was affected after a raid at the notorious drug enclave of Akala Mushin, Lagos last Saturday.

Residents of the area who applauded the agency after the arrest urged them to carry out more of such raids. A resident, who craved for anonymity over fear of reprisal told Crime Alert, “We have suffered a lot of insecurity from the presence of these hoodlums smoking Indian hemp around this area for a long time and security agents have been insensitive to their presence. We want them to do this often so that they can make this area unattractive for drug users.”

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NDLEA nabs man with liquid cocaine at MMIA

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said on Wednesday that it had arrested a 32-year-old man with 7.1 kg of liquid cocaine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja.

In a statement by its spokesman, Mr Mitchel Ofoyeju, NDLEA said that the drug was intercepted during the screening of passengers that arrived on an Emirate flight from Brazil, en route Dubai on Monday.

Ofoyeju said that the drug, with an estimated street value of N63.9 million, was emulsified in a solvent and factory-packaged as wine.

He said that three of the nine packs of wine that the suspect imported were found to contain cocaine.

The NDLEA spokesman said that seizure of cocaine in liquid form was uncommon in Nigeria.

He quoted NDLEA Chairman Ahmadu Giade as saying that the agency would continue to expose the tricks of drug barons in the country.

Ofoyeju also quoted Giade as attributing the seizure to the alertness of NDLEA officers at the airport and saying that the suspect would soon appear in court.

According to Ofoyeju, the anti-drug Commander at the Lagos airport, Mr. Hamza Umar, said that the suspect was believed to be working for a Brazilian drug syndicate.

The NDLEA spokesman said that the suspect had lived in Brazil for more than seven years.

He quoted the suspect as saying that he indulged in drug trafficking due to financial difficulties.

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Drug Traffickers Abandon Lagos, Move to Abuja Airport

The Baba Suwe treatment is one that even the 'real' drug traffickers do not want to experience at all, hence they are devising strategies to evade the watch of men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The Agency said the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja is now the preferred route being used by these bad guys for their illicit business.

NDLEA Head of Public Affairs, Mitchell Ofoyeju, in a statement disclosed that...


following the agency’s increased surveillance and arrest of a prominent artiste at the Lagos Airport over alleged drug-related offences, drug traffickers have started shifting base.

He said last Sunday alone, two suspects were arrested at the Abuja Airport with a total of 4kg of a substance that tested positive to cocaine.

Reiterating the Agency's preparedness to tackle drug traffickers, Ofoyeju said: “We are prepared to stop drug traffickers at the Abuja airport.

All our airports are equally equipped with the 3D scanning machines. It was a wrong calculation by the two suspects to have opted for Abuja airport. This arrest will serve as a warning to other drug traffickers.”

One of the suspects was arrested while attempting to board a KLM flight to Amsterdam, while the second one was nabbed at the outward screening of passengers from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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FG Sacks NAFDAC, NDLEA, Others From Seaports

As part of efforts to make the seaports efficient, cheaper and more userfriendly, the Federal Government has announced the sack of some government agencies comprising of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and Standards Organisation of Nigeria from the nation’s seaports.

Also affected in the shake-up, which reduced government agencies operating at the seaports from 14 to about six are Directorate of Naval Intelligence, Nigerian Plant Quarantine Services, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, among others.

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NDLEA Arrests Late Fela's wife for possession of Cannabis

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday arrested late Fela's wife, Najite Anikulapo-Kuti, 45, for allegedly being in possession of 340 grammes of cannabis (aka Indian hemp) in her Gbemisola Street, Ikeja, Lagos residence. Two other people, a man and a woman were also arrested. The case is said to be under investigation...


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