NDLEA arrests ‘two drug traffickers with 125 wraps of heroin’ at Lagos, Port Harcourt airports

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have arrested two suspected drug traffickers for allegedly smuggling 125 wraps of heroin into the country.

The arrests were made at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and the Port Harcourt International Airport in Rivers state.

Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said the suspects were caught during routine checks and later expelled the wraps of heroin after being placed under observation.

According to Babafemi, the first suspect, identified as Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus, also known as Kargbo Mohamed Foday, was arrested on February 2 at Port Harcourt airport while arriving from Doha via Abuja.

A body scan reportedly confirmed he had ingested 62 wraps of heroin, weighing 1.3kg.

Babafemi said investigations revealed that Sylvanus, who holds dual Nigerian and Sierra Leonean identities, has been trafficking drugs between Thailand, Pakistan, Iran, and West Africa since 2017 after his clothing business collapsed.

The second suspect, James Herbert Chinoso, 48, was arrested on February 1 at Lagos airport on arrival from Madagascar via Addis Ababa.

Babafemi said Chinonso expelled 62 wraps of heroin weighing 909g, adding that the suspect admitted to turning to drug trafficking after his phone accessories business in Liberia failed.

“He was subsequently taken for body scan which confirmed he ingested illicit drugs and thereafter placed under excretion observation during which he expelled a total of 62 wraps of heroin in five excretions, weighing 1.348 kilograms,” Babafemi said.

“The second trafficker, James Herbert Chinoso, 48, was arrested at the Lagos airport on February 1 upon arrival from Madagascar via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight,” Babafemi said.

“After a body scan confirmed illicit drug in his system, he was placed under excretion observation during which he egested 63 wraps of heroin with a total weight of 909 grams.”

The agency also intercepted two parcels of synthetic cannabis known as “Loud” weighing 2.8kg at a Lagos courier firm on February 6.

In a separate operation, NDLEA officers seized 80 ampoules of pentazocine, a controlled painkiller, concealed in cartons destined for Canada.

In Kano, two suspects, Usaini Salisu and Yahaya Mu’azu, were arrested with “15,396 tramadol pills concealed in a gas cylinder”.

Meanwhile, in Kogi state, officers intercepted 12,800 tramadol pills on the Kabba-Obajana highway, leading to the arrest of 33-year-old Salisu Basiru.

Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, commended the officers involved, describing the operations as a significant success in the country’s war on drug trafficking.