The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested one Ejiofor Chiwuzie, an automobile spare parts trader, for attempting to export consignments of heroin and loud, a variety of cannabis, in Lagos.
Mr Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at the NDLEA, announced the arrest in a statement issued Sunday in Abuja.
According to Babafemi, the consignments discovered at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja, Lagos, were concealed in LED rechargeable lamps and sofa metal legs that passed through the airport’s export yard.
He stated that Ejiofor was arrested on Tuesday, September 24 at the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos’ Ojo region, where he sells vehicle spare parts.
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This, he claimed, came when his consignment of auto parts, rechargeable bulbs, couch metal legs, and electronics bound for Liberia was intercepted at the Lagos airport’s export terminal.
“Concealed inside the LED lamps and sofa legs were 37 parcels of heroin weighing 1.10 kilograms and four blocks of loud with a total weight of 1.20kg.
“A swift follow up operation led to the arrest of two freight agents and then Ejiofor who sent the consignment,” he said.
In a similar vein, the NDLEA foiled drug trafficking networks’ attempts to export consignments of tramadol pills, co-codamol tablets, pentazocine injection, dihydrocodeine, and promethazine tabs via various courier businesses.
Babafemi said that the consignments were to be shipped to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Thailand and Oman.
He further stated that the attempted drug trafficking operations were halted by NDLEA officials from the Directorate of Operation and General Investigation (DOGI), who were assigned to the logistics firms.
“While 2.3kg of loud hidden in a carton was going to Thailand, 749 grams of tramadol concealed in soles of locally made footwears were heading to Oman, with 60 ampoules of pentazocine injection going to the United States.
“No less than 200 pills of co-codamol were meant for Australia while a total of 700 tablets of dihydrocodeine, promethazine and tramadol as well as 20 ampoules of pentazocine injection concealed in soles of footwears were heading to the United Kingdom.
“Going to Canada were 58 ampoules of pentazocine injection hidden in female cloths. All the seizures in the courier houses were made between Monday Sept. 23 and Tuesday Sept. 24 September in Lagos,” he said.
