Businessman travelling to Vietnam excretes 68 packets of cocaine at Lagos airport

Vietnam-bound businessman Ibeanusi Nosike has secreted 68 packets of cocaine after being arrested by officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

On August 12, the NDLEA arrested businessman Paul Mbadugha, who was travelling to Vietnam, at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport after he tested positive for cocaine.

In total, Mbadugha excreted 88 packets of cocaine weighing 1,710 kilograms.

In a statement released on Sunday, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said Nosike was arrested as she attempted to board the first flight from Lagos to Abuja.

He said: “Ibeanusi Solomon Nosike, a businessman from Onitsha, Anambra State, has excreted 68 packets of cocaine after being kept under surveillance for 12 days following his arrest by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the local branch of the MMIA Ikeja Lagos.

“Ibeanusi, aged 36, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday, August 8, 2024, at the old domestic terminal of the Lagos Airport while attempting to board the first flight from Lagos to Abuja, where he was scheduled to board a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam at about 10am the same day at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja.”

Babafemi noted that Nosike had been under surveillance since his arrival from Anambra State on August 7.

He said: “The suspect, who came under NDLEA surveillance based on intelligence information, had arrived in Lagos from his base in Onitsha, Anambra State the previous day, August 7, and stayed overnight in a hotel where he swallowed the 68 packets of cocaine before leaving for the airport to board his flight at 6:30am the next morning.

“He was subsequently intercepted by NDLEA agents and taken to excretion observation, where he spent the next 12 days excreting the 1.282 kilograms of cocaine pellets.”

Babafemi also said another Onitsha-based businessman, Aligbo Jacob, was arrested by NDLEA agents after they seized a consignment of 1.20kg of cannabis hidden in a parcel bound for Dubai, UAE.

“Agents of the agency’s MMIA strategic command had intercepted the consignment at the export hall of the Lagos airport while investigations revealed that the cargo had been sent through a courier company in Onitsha. After a series of tracking operations, Aligbo was finally arrested in Onitsha on Saturday, August 17,” he added.

Babafemi added that an all-female drug gang was smuggling drugs out of the country.

He said the leader of the syndicate, 42-year-old Olaribigbe Feyisara, was already in the NDLEA’s sights before he was tracked down and arrested.

Babafemi said four other members of the gang had been arrested.

He said: “Operators of a special unit of the NDLEA arrested five female cross-border drug traffickers at the Seme border while they were on their way back to Lagos from Ghana. The leader of the syndicate, 42-year-old Olaribigbe Bashirat Feyisara, was under the radar of the NDLEA before she was tracked down and arrested on August 21 along with other members of her gang: Abogun Fatimah Ladidi, Osibeluwo Tolulope Oluwaseun, Akanni Balikis Oluwatoyin and Ajetumobi Amudalat.

“At the time of their arrest at the Seme border, a total of 14 packets of Loud, a strong cannabis strain with a total weight of 6.97 kg, were found hidden on their bodies.”

NDLEA agents intercepted codeine worth 2.2 billion naira at the port of Lagos, Babafemi said.

He said: “Similarly, on Friday, August 23, NDLEA operatives intercepted two containers at Tincan Seaport in Lagos coming from Mundra Port in India.

“During a joint investigation with other port stakeholders, no fewer than 1,596 cartons of codeine syrup containing 319,200 bottles of the opioid with a street value of 2,234,400,000.00 Naira were recovered from the containers.”

In Edo State, two women were arrested for selling drug-laced biscuits and cakes over the Internet, according to Babafemi.

He said: “Two women have been arrested by investigators in Edo State for selling illegal drugs online. While Martha Owotorofa, 26, was nabbed at Kada Plaza in Benin City with large quantities of Canadian liquor, Odion Uzordinma, 21, was arrested in Ugbowo area of ​​the city with 30 tubs of biscuits and 17 pieces of cake, all laced with illegal substances.

“A raid on Oghada village in Uhunmwonde Local Government Area of ​​the state on Tuesday, August 20, resulted in the arrest of 50-year-old Saturday Edobor with 288.8kg of cannabis.”

In Lagos, he said, a suspect named Godwill Davidson was arrested on August 21 in the Mushin area of ​​the state with 3,834 bottles of codeine syrup, 5,200 tablets of Co-Codamol and 11,880 tablets of Rohypnol.

“Another suspect, 23-year-old Yahaya Ibrahim, was arrested by officers along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja Expressway in Kogi State on the same day. He was carrying 42,000 Tramadol tablets which were en route from Asaba in Delta State to Potiskum in Yobe State.

“Two suspects, Feranmi Bankole, 25, and Fredrick Tobiloba, 25, were arrested on Tuesday, August 20, at Pariz Lounge, Adeoyo area of ​​Ibadan metropolis, Oyo State, based on intelligence information. 267.5 litres of Skuchies, a mixture of blackcurrant and various illicit drugs, and 18 grams of Canadian Loud were recovered from them,” the statement added.