By Opeyemi Adelakun
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 48-year-old businessman, Nwankwo Onyebuchi, with 1.55kg of cocaine concealed inside his luggage at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Onyebuchi, a marble dealer, was arrested at Terminal II while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to New Delhi, India, according to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday.
The agency said the cocaine was factory-fitted into the walls and railings of his check-in bag.
Babafemi said the suspect confessed to selling his marble business and other assets to raise N23m to buy the consignment, which he hoped to sell in India for as much as N100m.
“In a candid confession that lays bare the desperation that fuels the drug trade, Nwankwo said he had sold off his marble business and every asset he owned to raise the ₦23 million he paid for the consignment,” Babafemi said.
The suspect remains in custody and will be prosecuted, the agency said.
Meanwhile, NDLEA reported other major seizures across the country, including 377,600 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over N2.6bn recovered from a warehouse in Lagos.
In Kano, operatives recovered 728,958 pills of tramadol, rohypnol and other opioids, alongside cocaine, methamphetamine, codeine syrup and Loud.
The agency also reported large cannabis and opioid seizures in Kwara, Oyo, Delta, Plateau and Edo states.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended personnel involved in the operations and urged them to sustain efforts against drug trafficking and abuse.
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