74-Year-Old UK-Bound Man Arrested with 11kg Cocaine

News Update

74-year-old grandpa with 11kg cocaine in balloons arrested

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, said its operatives have arrested a 74-year-old grandpa, Ikwuakalom Nwakoro Emeka, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, after a large consignment of cocaine was discovered in foil papers and balloons concealed in his luggage.

According to NDLEA, the septuagenarian who claimed he was travelling to London, United Kingdom, for vacation, was arrested at the departure hall of the Abuja airport while attempting to board a British Airways flight BA082 to Heathrow London on Saturday.

This was made known in a statement on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja.

Babafemi disclosed that blocks of cocaine weighing 11 kilograms were discovered concealed inside food items, including ground dry pepper, carefully wrapped in foil papers and balloons during a search of the suspect’s luggage.

Also, in Lagos, NDLEA operatives acting on credible intelligence in the early hours of Monday 9th March arrested a woman, Mrs Maryam Olalowo at Ikad Hotel and Suites, on Etim Inyang Street, Victoria Island, while attempting to sell 89grams of cocaine and 20grams of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis.

She was found with her three children, including an infant, at the time of the arrest. She confessed the illicit drugs belong to her husband, Ibrahim Olalowo Olatunji, who was later taken into custody same day while his wife was immediately set free.

Ibrahim confirmed ownership of the illicit drugs in his statement while further investigation revealed that he had previously been arrested, convicted, and sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for a similar offence in 2015.

In another interdiction operation, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects: Kalilou Simpara and Saidu Ibrahim at Ebetu Ero, Lagos Island where they recovered 68,000 pills of tramadol 250mg and 225mg after they had loaded the exhibits into their truck and preparing to transport them to Benin Republic on Monday.

A follow-up operation was conducted on Wednesday 11th March at Idumota market, Lagos Island, where the actual owner of the consignment, Nnamdi Cyprian, was arrested.

A search of his shop led to the discovery of a parcel already prepared for waybill delivery, containing 1,000 tablets of tramadol 250mg. Another raid at Idumota market on Friday 13th March led to the arrest of Nwanosike Kelvin and the recovery of 47,500 ampoules of pentazocine injection from his shop.

In the same vein, 42-year-old Magaji Dan Azumi was arrested at Bebeji area of Kano with 386kg skunk on Tuesday 10th March, NDLEA officers in Abuja recovered 282.2kg skunk from a suspect Isah Wako, 42, in Gwagwalada area of the FCT on Friday 13th March.

In Edo State, NDLEA operatives raided the Egwa forest reserve in Aduan village, Orhionmwon LGA where a suspect Chinedo Odalonu,33, was apprehended and a total of 4,218.96kg skunk destroyed on two farms with 16.5kg of same substance recovered.

No fewer than 339,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup were intercepted in two containers at the Apapa seaport in Lagos on Saturday 14th March during a joint examination of the shipments by NDLEA officers, men of Customs and other security agencies.

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The containers had earlier been watch-listed by NDLEA following credible intelligence on concealment of opioids in them.