The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a former international football player, Segun George Hunkarin, and his associate, Ntoruka Chinedu, for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Chinedu, a regular traveller known for importing clothes from Turkey and exporting foodstuffs from Nigeria, was arrested on Tuesday, upon arrival from Turkey via an Ethiopian Airlines flight with a stopover in Addis Ababa.
A statement by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, said a search of his hand luggage uncovered 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams, which he had reportedly collected in Ethiopia before heading to Nigeria.
He said further investigation led to the arrest of Hunkarin, a former professional footballer who had spent years playing in Brazil.
“Investigation showed that the suspect was coming from Turkey on Ethiopian Airlines flight, but transited through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he collected the luggage from another person before heading to Nigeria. Further checks revealed that an accomplice who turned out to be the former professional footballer, Segun Hunkarin, was waiting for Chinedu at the airport carpark to collect the consignment from him.
“Hunkarin who had stayed years in Brazil playing for football clubs was promptly tracked and arrested at the carpark.
In his statement, Hunkarin claimed that while playing professional football in the South American country, he had only trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia but had never brought any to Nigeria,” he added.
In another development, Babafemi said a Europe-based businessman, Amen Okoro Godstime, was arrested at the Lagos airport on Friday while attempting to smuggle 5,000 tablets of tramadol (225mg) disguised as malaria drugs such as Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem.
He added that he was caught at Terminal 2 during the clearance of passengers for a Royal Air Maroc flight to Spain via Casablanca. Okoro claimed he intended to move the drugs to Italy through France, where he resides.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Babafemi said the NDLEA operatives intercepted two drug traffickers arriving from different parts of the world on Friday.
He noted that one, 38-year-old bar attendant Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, was arrested with 17.5kg of methamphetamine and 3.05kg of cocaine concealed in bedsheets. He had travelled from Johannesburg via Addis Ababa.
The second, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, he said, arrived from São Paulo, Brazil, with a plastic liquid soap container that, upon analysis, was found to contain 1.25kg of liquid cocaine. Kpodar, who trades in toys in Brinquedo, São Paulo, claimed he bought the substance while shopping for his upcoming wedding in Nigeria.
Babafemi stated, “At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu, the NDLEA operatives on Friday, June 27, intercepted a Maputo, Mozambique-based bar attendant, Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel. A search of his luggage led to the discovery of 17 cardboard-sized parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.500 kilograms and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.050 kilograms.
“The 38-year-old suspect was coming from Johannesburg, South Africa via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on an Ethiopian Airlines flight when he was interdicted and subjected to a search during which the illicit drugs concealed in bedsheets packed in his bags were discovered.
“Another passenger on board the same Ethiopian Airlines flight, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar was also intercepted at the Enugu airport by the NDLEA operatives. When Azu, who arrived from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was searched, a liquid soap plastic container marked YPE was discovered in his luggage. The substance was promptly taken for analysis at the NDLEA forensic and chemical laboratory, Enugu, where the substance tested positive for cocaine.
“The substance which turned out to be liquid cocaine weighed 1.250kg. The suspect who is a toy seller in Brinquedo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, claimed he purchased the substance while shopping for his wedding ceremony in Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, he said the NDLEA operatives at the Seme border in Badagry arrested 26-year-old Vode Jean-Luck, a Beninese national, on June 24 while attempting to smuggle 69 balls of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 29.5kg, into Nigeria.
In Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Babafemi said operatives on Wednesday raided the residence of a notorious drug dealer, Mary Bolanle Oladele, also known as “Iya Nafi,” recovering various quantities of skunk, tramadol, and flunitrazepam.
In another operation in Delta State, 72-year-old Christy Ejaro was arrested in the Niger CAT area of Warri on June 24. Several sachets of skunk packed for retail were recovered from the grandmother.
