The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recorded major breakthroughs in its nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking, intercepting a commercial motorcycle rider who allegedly ingested 100 wraps of methamphetamine and seizing ₦10.3 billion worth of cannabis at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
According to the agency, the suspect, Onyechere Daniel Chinadufor, a 48-year-old commercial motorcycle (okada) rider, was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, after arriving from Madagascar through Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
A search of his luggage led to the discovery of 87 wraps of methamphetamine hidden inside his clothes.
NDLEA said the suspect confessed that he had worked as an okada rider in Lagos for about 15 years before he was recruited into drug trafficking by a friend based in Uganda.
According to the agency, he also admitted swallowing additional drug pellets before travelling to Madagascar but was denied entry by immigration authorities and eventually returned to Lagos.
Because he could not state the exact number of pellets he had swallowed, he was placed under observation for three days.
The agency said he later excreted 13 more wraps, bringing the total recovery to 100 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.715 kilograms.
In another major operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted 8,287 nylon bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 4,143.5 kilograms at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
The agency estimated the street value of the seized drugs at over ₦10.3 billion.
According to NDLEA, the shipment arrived from Canada and was intercepted during a joint inspection involving the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies after weeks of intelligence-led surveillance.
The anti-drug agency also foiled an attempt to export 2.5 kilograms of skunk concealed inside a gas compressor bound for Cyprus through a Lagos courier company.
In Abuja, NDLEA also confirmed the arrest of a 38-year-old South African woman, Will Jessica Ann, after allegedly discovering 5.75 kilograms of heroin hidden inside her luggage at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The agency said intelligence linked the suspect to a transnational drug trafficking network operating between Cambodia and South Africa.
Beyond enforcement operations, NDLEA said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with awareness programmes across schools, communities, workplaces and places of worship in several states.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the successful operations and urged them to sustain the fight against drug trafficking and substance abuse nationwide.
Source: National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
