The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has nabbed a Nigerian businessman based in Brazil, Ezeokoli Sylva, who came into the country with 700 grams of cocaine buried in his stomach.
The 59-year-old Ezeokoli, who was returning after 35 years in Brazil, was arrested on Friday, November 29, 2024, at the E-Arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos, upon his return from Sao Paulo, Brazil, on an Ethiopia Airlines flight via Addis Ababa.
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NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said when the suspect was taken for a body scan, the result confirmed that he had foreign objects concealed in his stomach, and as a result, he was placed under excretion observation, during which he expelled 29 wraps of substances that tested positive to cocaine weighing 700grams.
The NDLEA also claimed that in his statement, the suspect claimed he operates an African store in Brazil where he sells provisions, shoes and clothes.
He added that he bought the illicit consignment in Sao Paulo to resell in Nigeria to raise substantial capital to boost his business.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Investigation and General Investigation, DOGI, on Tuesday, November 26, intercepted two consignments containing cocaine and pentazocine injection going to the United Kingdom via a courier company in Lagos.
While the cocaine weighing 200 grams was concealed in local fabrics, 40 ampoules of pentazocine injection weighing 110 grams were hidden in.
In Kano, NDLEA operatives on Thursday, November 28, arrested three suspects: Jamilu Adamu, 38; Umar Musa, 32; and Bunu Ali, 27, with 2,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 3,135,000 pills exol-5 at Gadar Tamburawa, Zaria Road.
Also, no fewer than 2 120 kilograms of Ghanaian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis produced in Ghana, were intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the Ilesan Beach, Lagos, on Thursday, November 28.
A suspect, Onibogi Muftau, was arrested in connection with the seizure, while four vehicles that were to convey the shipments from the waterfront were also recovered. This came on the heels of the seizure of 472kg of the same psychoactive substance at Idi-Iroko, Imeko area of Ogun state on Monday, November 25.