By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a widower, Mr Ariyibi Ahmed Olaseinde and a divorcee, Mrs Akanbi Silifat Tunrayo, for attempting to export 14.4 kilograms of cocaine concealed in lace and ankara fabrics through the lesser hajj (pilgrimage) in Saudi Arabia.
The duo were arrested by operatives of the drug agency at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.
Mr Ariyibi was intercepted on Thursday, April 20, at the screening point of MMIA Terminal 2 during outward clearance of Qatar Airways passengers travelling from Lagos via Doha to Medina, Saudi Arabia.
When his carry-on bag was checked, four sets of white lace material with linings of substance that tested positive for Cocaine weighing 11.50kg were discovered.
The suspect, who claimed to be a widower and an advertising practitioner, said his original plan was to ingest the drugs but had to change his mind after failed attempts to swallow bitter cola, which he was using to practice the process.
He was expected to be paid N1.8 million upon successful delivery of the consignment in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
The previous day, Wednesday, April 19, NDLEA officers at the Terminal 2 of the airport also arrested Mrs Silifat Tunrayo Akanbi with 2.90kg cocaine during outward clearance of Qatar Airways passengers from Lagos via Doha to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A search of her hand luggage led to the discovery of six sheets of cocaine weighing 2.90kg concealed in ankara fabrics.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a divorcee and a trader who used to hawk clothes around the Awoyaya area of Ajah, Lagos.
Based on information in her statement, a follow-up operation that lasted through the night into the early hours of Thursday, April 20, was carried out, during which the person who recruited her, Mr Adebayo Adeola Wasiu, was arrested at No 28, Olateju Street, Mushin, Lagos.
It was revealed that Mr Adebayo is the managing director of B&T Travel Agency.
In the same vein, NDLEA officers attached to courier companies have intercepted two drug consignments consisting of ecstasy and skunk going to the United Arab Emirates, while the pills of ecstasy were concealed in a gold colour wedding gown, the skunk was hidden in a microcontroller.
This is even as a 400-level Marine Engineering student at the Niger Delta University, Amassoma, Bayelsa state, Mr Kelvin Ogenedoro, was arrested for dealing in 600 grams of skunk. He was nabbed at the university’s gate in a follow-up operation following the interception of the consignment in a commercial bus along Tombia-Amassoma road.
Meanwhile, in Adamawa State, a convicted drug dealer, Mr Sunday Ishaku Emzor (aka Lalas), who was convicted and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in 2010 for drug offences, was on Thursday, April 20, arrested for drug dealing.
He was arrested at Hayin Gada, Imburu Numan LGA where he went to supply 1.650kg of cannabis to an undercover operative. His Yellow Press Cub motorcycle, used for supplying illicit drugs and cash of N78,120 suspected to proceed with the illegal business, was recovered from him at the point of arrest.
On the same day in Kaduna, operatives acting on credible intelligence intercepted a truck conveying 110 bags and 200 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 1.223 tons (1,223kg) in Zaria while the truck driver, Mr Adekunle Olanrewaju, 32, and his assistant, Mr Tunde Jamiu, 20, were arrested.
In Edo State, a 42-year-old man with disabilities, Mr Lucky Aigberenmolen, trading in illicit drugs in his wheelchair, was arrested in a raid of drug joints in parts of the state.
While Mr Lucky was nabbed at Ekpoma, Esan West LGA, with 1.3kg of Cannabis Sativa and 10 litres of Monkey Tail, another suspect, Mary David,46, was arrested at Ugbegun, Esan Central LGA, with four litres of Monkey Tail and Osagiede Stephanie, 19, at Ekpoma, with various quantities of Colorado, Methamphetamine, and Molly. A 50kg of cannabis stored in a bush ready for distribution was also recovered in the Irrua area of the state.
Similarly, two suspects: Mr Adeshina Olalekan and Mr Christopher Joel, were arrested at Lektop Hotel, Igbeba, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, with 39 litres of Skuchies, as well as various quantities of tramadol, and rophynol, operatives in Imo State intercepted a female suspect, Mrs Ijeoma Anyiam Loreza, 40, at Orogwe, Owerri North with 70 blocks of Cannabis Sativa weighing 30kg.
In a similar vein, a suspected drug dealer in the Okitipupa area of Ondo state, Mr Mathew Obateru, 42, has also been taken into custody after different quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, Colorado and Loud were recovered from him.
The case was not so different in Taraba, where a suspect, Mohammed Usman, was arrested on Monday, April 17, in connection with the seizure of 10,009 pills of tramadol.
Modupe Gbadeyanka