NDLEA Discovers Abandoned 9.270kg Of Heroin, Arrests Man With 10.005kg At Lagos Airport

 

A suspected drug syndicate has abandoned 9.270kg of heroin originating from Pakistan at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos.

Sources said that operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, discovered the drug inside an abandoned luggage on the conveyor belt during inward screening of passengers on an Emirate flight.

This came as a 38-year-old auto parts dealer, Ohagwu Ernest Ifeanyi, who attempted to board a Qatar airline flight to China with 735 grammes of heroin which he swallowed was also arrested. The heroin weighing 10.005kg is valued at over N80 million.

NDLEA Commander at the airport, Mr. Hamza Umar who confirmed the story said, “This is a good start for us considering the value of the drug. The heroin seizures comprising 9.270kg imported from Pakistan and 735 grammes ingested by one Ohagwu Ernest Ifeanyi weighed 10.005kg.

“The suspect was arrested following a positive test for drug ingestion.”

Ifeanyi who hails from Enugu State said that he smuggled drugs to recover from a financial loss of N2 million.

He said: “I sell auto parts at Onitsha where I live with my wife and two children. My involvement in drugs was to enable me recover from the N2 million loss I incurred in my business. My friend in China was the one that introduced me into drug trafficking. They were to pay me $2,500. They gave me the heroin to swallow in a hotel room in Lagos but I was arrested at the airport.”

Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said that the drug seizure showed there was a rise in the nation’s counter-narcotics campaign. “Drug cartels only abandon their highly valued drugs when it becomes impossible to beat security checks. Besides taking the seized drug out of illicit circulation, we have also prevented the suspect from facing possible death penalty in China for drug trafficking.

Giade stated that; “The Agency will leave no stone unturned in the fight against drug barons.” [Vanguard]