Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, have arrested a Thailand returnee, Simon Peter Oguejiofor, for importing 13.30 kilograms of heroin worth over N3.192bn.
Oguejiofor was arrested on October 7, 2024, while attempting to smuggle out of the airport the drug concealed in six backpacks and then packed into two big suitcases.
According to a statement by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the suspect left Thailand on October 3 on a Qatar Airways flight and stopped over in Doha, where he spent two days before heading to Lagos while his luggage was routed to Accra, Ghana, his original destination.
After arriving in Lagos on October 5, he contacted the airline to reroute his luggage to Nigeria so that he could pick them up as rush bags in a bit to beat security checks. However, the NDLEA officers intercepted him at the point of exit.
A search of his two suitcases revealed three empty backpacks in each box with a large parcel of heroin neatly sewn to all six backpacks. The six parcels were recovered with a gross weight of 13.30kg.”
Babafemi said Oguejiofor stated that he was offered $7,000 to peddle the drugs to Nigeria and Ghana.
He said, “In his statement, Oguejiofor claimed he was hired for a fee of $7,000 upon successful delivery of the parcels. He said he was to deliver two parcels in Lagos and the other four in Accra, Ghana.”
Babafemi also said the NDLEA operatives at three seaports intercepted large consignments of opioids with a combined monetary value of N22,7bn.
According to him, a total of 32,607,900 pills of tramadol worth over N12,577,000,000 and 1,451,994 bottles of codeine-based syrup with a street value of N10,163,958,000 were intercepted at the Lekki Deep Seaport, Apapa seaport in Lagos and Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state.
“The combined monetary value of the seized opioids comes to N22,740,958,000. The illicit consignments were seized from containers watched and listed by the NDLEA based on intelligence and processed for 100 per cent joint examination with men of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies at the three seaports between October 7 and 11, 2024,” the statement added.
Babafemi, however, said operatives arrested a 29-year-old man, Okelue Chiders, with 50,000 tablets of tramadol in Anambra State, and a 38-year-old man, Monday Akele, in Edo State with 70 bags of the psychoactive substance weighing 1,050kg.
He said, “In the same vein, the NDLEA operatives in Anambra on Saturday, October 12, arrested a suspect, Okelue Chidera, 29, with 50,000 tablets of tramadol 200mg at Upper Iweka, Onitsha.
“Also, in Edo State, operatives raided a cannabis transit and loading point at Aviose, Owan West LGA where 70 bags of the psychoactive substance weighing 1,050kg were recovered, while a suspect Monday Akele, 38, was arrested on Friday, October 11, in another raid at the Owan Village, Ovia North East LGA, where 110kg of same substance was seized.”
Credit: Punch
