Eric Patrick
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended a second individual in just two weeks for attempting to smuggle cocaine to Iran, signaling a troubling rise in drug trafficking between Nigeria and the Islamic Republic.
On Saturday, June 7, NDLEA operatives at Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA) arrested 44-year-old businessman Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka Christian as he tried to board Qatar Airways flight QR1434 en route to Tehran Khomeini via Doha.
A routine body scan indicated that Ezemokwe had ingested illegal substances.
He was immediately placed under observation, during which he excreted a total of 53 wraps of cocaine across six sessions.
The drugs weighed a combined 1.172 kilograms.
According to a statement on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect claimed to have gone into the criminal trade two years ago, moving between the West African sub-region and Iran.
The arrest comes just days after NDLEA operatives at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, detained Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, a 60-year-old businessman heading to Iran with 65 pellets of cocaine concealed in his stomach.
These two arrests in quick succession suggest a growing trafficking corridor targeting Iran, prompting NDLEA to intensify surveillance at Nigeria’s international airports. Travel guides for Nigeria
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According to Babafemi, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports in Onne, Rivers State, on Friday, June 13, intercepted a shipment containing 157,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup with a street value of over ₦1.1 billion.
The seizure was made during a joint examination of a watch-listed container in collaboration with officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies. Travel guides for Nigeria
The statement said, “The opioid consignments were hidden behind 257 cartons of ceramic sanitary wares.
“At least, three suspects: Friday Achibong Joseph, 47; Abraham Anthony Willy, 21; and Utibe David Okon, 24, were arrested on Thursday 12th June when NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse in Obereakai, Odukpani LGA, Cross River state, where a total of 2,687kg skunk, a strain of cannabis, was recovered.
“Same day in Bauchi state, NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence, arrested the duo of Iriemi Imonikhe, 49, and Sa’idu Ladan, 30, along Bauchi -Jos road after 195 blocks of skunk weighing 287kg were discovered in their Toyota Camry car marked AKL 201 GG.
“While 14 jumbo sacks of skunk weighing 560kg were recovered from a wooden boat at Oniru beach in Lagos by operatives of the Marine Command of NDLEA on Thursday 12th June, officers of the Muhammadu Buhari International Airport Maiduguri (MBIAM) same day arrested two businessmen: Ishaku Abdullahi, 30; and Buba Usman, 32, at the arrival hall of the domestic wing of the airport with various quantities of ecstacy pills and skunk packaged in fanciful wraps labelled as ‘Lychee’ and ‘Porro Legal.’”
NDLEA, however, continue to investigate this emerging trafficking route as they tighten enforcement efforts at Nigeria’s international airports.