NDLEA arrests Spain-bound man with ‘parcels of cocaine concealed in sandals’

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested one Francis Akajiobi after he was allegedly caught with parcels of cocaine. 

In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, spokesperson for the NDLEA, said the suspect was arrested on July 25 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, while attempting to board his Royal Air Maroc flight to Madrid, Spain.

Babafemi said that the cocaine, weighing 1.20 kg, was concealed in Akajiobi’s pair of sandals.

NDLEA said the suspect revealed that the consignment was “delivered to him at a bar in Port Harcourt, Rivers state and was to deliver it to his friend and neighbour in Spain for a fee of Five Thousand Euros (€5,000) upon successful delivery to the recipient”.

The agency also arrested Makinde Sodiq Lekan over his alleged connection with a seized consignment of 99 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis.

Babafemi said the substance arrived at the SAHCO Imports shed of the MMIA from Canada through Istanbul, Turkey, on a Turkish Airlines flight.

NDLEA also arrested Chukwuemaka Obodozie on July 21 with 100,000 tablets of tramadol 225mg loaded in two bags shortly after the suspect’s arrival from Ghana.

The anti-drug agency said the suspect is one of the kingpins of “syndicates that specialise in shipping large consignments of opioids into neighbouring countries from where they attempt smuggling them into Nigeria in smaller quantities through transport companies”.

The statement added that the intelligence that led to Chukwuemeka’s arrest was gathered after five months of surveillance.

“No fewer than 17 suspects were arrested on Friday 26th July when NDLEA operatives raided the Owena forest in Oriade LGA, Osun State, where they destroyed 31,250 kilograms of cannabis on 12.5 hectares of farmland, while 84kg of processed cannabis sativa was recovered along with a single barrel Dane gun,” the statement reads.

“Those arrested include: Peter Osuya, 51; Zebron Ode, 46; Dogo Reuben Matthew, 35; Isaac Terna; Joseph David Lawrence, 27;  Ugochukwu Victory, 24; Olamilekan Abolarin, 26; Dele Ayibo, 44; Ojo Moses, 21; Nini Ayila, 27; Msughve Clement, 23; Chuks Ogeneku, 40; Dada Aribo, 20; Uche Endurance, 30; Patrick Agba, 21; Osakwe Kennedy, 45; and Ojo Babatunde, 29.

“In Kaduna state, NDLEA operatives on stop and search patrol along Kaduna-Zaria highway on Saturday July 27 intercepted a 32-year-old lady, Ubaida Aliyu in possession of 573 rounds of 7.60 live ammunition, which she claimed she was attempting to deliver to bandits in Sokoto.

“While a suspect, Godwin Udochukwu, 35, was arrested in connection with the seizure of 25,000 ampoules of Pentazocine injection by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Kaduna-Zaria highway, another suspect, Alkasim Mikailu, 35, was nabbed in Kano on a follow-up operation following the seizure of 37,880 ampoules of Diazepam injection along Abuja-Kaduna highway.”