The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a businessman, Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka Christian, for swallowing 53 wraps of cocaine in an attempt to smuggle the drug out of Nigeria.
Ezemokwe, 44, was caught at the Port Harcourt International Airport on Saturday, June 7, while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight to Tehran, Iran, through Doha. A body scan revealed he had ingested the illegal substance, and he was placed under close watch. Over time, he excreted the drugs in six batches, weighing a total of 1.172 kilograms.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the suspect confessed that he had been involved in drug trafficking between West Africa and Iran for the past two years.
This arrest comes shortly after another similar case. On May 25, NDLEA officers at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano caught another businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, 60, trying to travel to Iran with 65 wraps of cocaine in his stomach.
Speaking about both incidents, the NDLEA said: “Barely two weeks after operatives of the NDLEA at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport intercepted a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, heading to Iran with 65 pellets of cocaine in his stomach, their counterparts at the Port Harcourt International Airport have arrested another businessman, 44-year-old Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka Christian, for ingesting 53 wraps of the same drug while on his way to Tehran.”
In another operation, NDLEA officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos arrested an Italy-bound passenger, Edobor Ambrose Ali, who tried to smuggle thousands of tramadol pills hidden inside winter jackets.
The arrest happened in the early hours of Saturday, June 14, while Edobor was about to board an Air France flight to Milan. Working with Aviation Security officers from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), NDLEA agents scanned his luggage and found 14,410 pills of tramadol, hidden inside thick clothing.
Edobor later admitted he lived in Italy and was sent on an all-expense-paid trip to Nigeria to carry the drugs to Milan for a fee of 2,000 euros.
The NDLEA said investigations are ongoing and promised to continue working to stop drug trafficking at Nigerian airports.
