The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two Europe-based Nigerians for allegedly ingesting 200 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.46 kilogrammes while attempting to travel from Abuja to Paris, France.
The suspects, identified as Aliocus Godian Odife and Sam Blackborn, were apprehended on Wednesday, October 28, during the outward clearance of an Air France flight, AF 832, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, explaining that the suspects were intercepted after body scans revealed foreign objects in their stomachs.
According to the statement, Odife, who reportedly lives in France and works in a factory, arrived in Nigeria on October 21 for a short holiday before attempting to return to Europe.
Following his arrest, he reportedly confessed to ingesting 110 wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.901 kilogrammes, which he subsequently excreted under observation by NDLEA operatives.
His accomplice, Blackborn, also tested positive during a body scan and admitted to swallowing 90 wraps of cocaine. He later excreted the substances, which weighed 1.559 kilogrammes.
The agency said the arrests formed part of several drug enforcement operations conducted across the country, resulting in additional seizures and arrests.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives recovered 976 kilogrammes of cannabis from two commercial buses.
In Oyo State, two suspects, Oguntona Nasiru, 46, and Soji Balogun, 47, were arrested on October 29 while allegedly loading 554 kilogrammes of cannabis into a truck along Idere Road, Igboora.
Similarly, operatives in Kano State recovered 247,500 tablets of diazepam weighing 57.7 kilogrammes and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 weighing 38.7 kilogrammes during a raid in the Tsamiya area of Gezawa.
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Two other suspects were also arrested in Dorayi, Kano, with 19,250 pills of tramadol.
In another operation, NDLEA officers patrolling the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway arrested a woman, Aisha Isah, with 266 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition.
Along the Zaria-Kano Expressway, operatives apprehended a 68-year-old man, Ifeanyi Egwolonwu, with 2,770 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 100 ampoules of diazepam injection, 11,000 tablets of diazepam and 4,500 tablets of Exol-5.
Reacting to the arrests, the NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), warned Nigerians residing abroad against engaging in drug trafficking under the guise of legitimate travel or overseas businesses.
Marwa described the interception of the two suspects at the Abuja airport as a warning to individuals who believe their foreign residence could shield them from drug trafficking investigations.
He maintained that the agency’s personnel at the country’s entry and exit points remained vigilant, stressing that anyone involved in ingesting illicit substances for financial rewards risked their lives and freedom.
The NDLEA chairman commended officers across commands in Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ondo, Oyo and Edo states for their efforts, urging them to sustain enforcement operations and intensify drug prevention campaigns under the War Against Drug Abuse initiative.