Two Qatar-based ‘drug kingpins’ arrested as NDLEA intercepts meth consignment at Lagos airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested Eyah Nnamdi and Ugwuoke Oluchukwu, Qatar-based suspected drug kingpins.

In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said Oluchukwu was the first person to be arrested on June 9 during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways passengers at the Lagos airport.

He said the NDLEA officers had approached Oluchukwu who was travelling to Doha with an Ivorien passport with the name Hien Narcisse, and after a scrutiny of his black carry-on luggage, a false bottom was discovered.

Babafemi said the false bottom was found to be concealing two parcels of crystalline substance that tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 1kg.

“Preliminary investigation showed that the suspect is a Nigerian who had obtained the Ivorien passport for his travels,” Babafemi said.

“He confessed that he travelled to Qatar in August 2022 and returned to Nigeria in April 2023 to perfect arrangements for the movement of the drug consignment.

“A further probe led operatives to Oluchukwu’s Qatar-based senior partner in the trade, simply identified as Murphy, who was lurking around in Eziani, his home town in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state.

“Oluchukwu, who hails from Igboeze North Local Government Area of the state, claimed he holds a National Diploma in Electrical Engineering.

“A prompt deployment of NDLEA operatives to Eziani community on June 10 led to the arrest of ‘Murphy’.

“His true identity was later discovered to be Eyah Celestine Nnamdi, who had lived in Indonesia for some years before relocating to Doha.”