NDLEA discovers ‘cocaine hidden in packs of sweets’ at Lagos airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested one Prosper Chux, a Nigerian returning from Brazil, with cocaine and cannabis hidden inside packs of sweets at the airport in Lagos.

According to a statement on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, the agency’s spokesperson, Chux was arrested on December 25, 2022, at the ‘D’ arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed international airport in Lagos.

The NDLEA said the suspect had just returned from Brazil, adding that the concealed cocaine parcels weighed 2.8 kilogrammes.

“Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted a Brazil returnee, Agbasi Prosper Chux with 105 parcels of cocaine concealed in candies at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos on Christmas Day,” the statement reads.

“The suspect was arrested at the D arrival hall of the MMIA during inward clearance of passengers from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Doha on Qatar Airways on Monday, 25th December 2022 following credible intelligence.

“An initial search of the suspects’ two checked-in bags almost made him a free man as there was nothing incriminating found there, until the NDLEA officers took a second look at the duty-free shopping nylon bags containing packs of candies he was holding in his hands.

“A thorough examination of the duty-free shopping bags revealed the packs of candies inside were actually used to conceal 105 parcels of cocaine weighing 2.8 kilograms and 43 grams of cannabis.

“Preliminary test conducted on a plastic bottle of body lotion also found in possession of the suspect also tested positive to cocaine with a total weight of 472 grams.

“Married to a Brazilian lady with a daughter, Prosper who claimed to be into clothing business in Brazil, was hoping to sell the drug in Enugu, his state.”

The agency also said between December 24 and 27, 2022, its officers arrested three suspects in Kwara, Kogi, and Niger states, with illicit substances.

“Three other traffickers were arrested by operatives with a total of 256 kilograms of illicit substances seized from them during interdiction operations in Kwara, Kogi and Niger states in the past week,” the agency said.

 “While a team of NDLEA officers on stop and search duty along Ilorin-Jebba highway on Monday 26th Dec arrested a suspect, Idris Saeed, 19, with 60 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 30kgs, their colleagues in Niger state on similar operation along Jebba-Mokwa road also recovered 240 blocks of the same substance weighing 168 kilograms, from multi-colour sacks loaded in a Peugeot J5 bus, with registration number MAG 146 XA, coming from Lagos and going to Kano for delivery.

“In Kogi state, operatives intercepted a truck coming from Onitsha, Anambra state, to Maiduguri, Borno, along Okene-Abuja highway, where 9,900 ampoules of pentazocine injection (42kgs) were recovered on Saturday 24th Dec.

“In the same vein, a suspect, Ibrahim Jibril, 20, was arrested on the same route with 40 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 16kgs coming from Lagos to Jigawa in a Toyota Hiace commercial bus on Tuesday 27th December.”