An individual named Erasmus Jean-Pierre, who is from South Africa, was apprehended at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The arrest was made due to his attempt to smuggle 2.6 kilograms of methamphetamine, also known as Mkpulu Mmiri, through the Nigerian airport to the Middle East.
In a press statement on Sunday, the spokesperson for the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, stated that “NDLEA operatives foiled the attempt by a 29-year-old South African, Erasmus Jean – Pierre, to export 2.6 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in his luggage to the Middle East. The arrest took place on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA Abuja.”
According to Babafemi, the suspect was intercepted during the outbound clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 404 from Abuja to the Middle East via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A thorough search of his luggage led to the discovery of the illicit drug, which was a whitish powdery substance, packed in various parts of the bag.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect arrived in Lagos from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on Saturday, August 19. He then traveled to Abuja on Tuesday, August 22, and obtained the brown bag containing the drug consignment the following Wednesday before heading to the Abuja airport for his flight out of Nigeria.
In addition to this arrest, NDLEA officers in Gombe state recovered an abandoned Volkswagen Sharon vehicle marked GME 76 XD containing a total of 373,420 pills of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.
Similarly, operatives in Ogun State raided the home of a drug dealer named Ifeanyi Orji in the Ibafo area of the state, where they discovered and seized 81,000 tablets of tramadol 225mg, weighing 32.4 kilograms.
In Adamawa state, NDLEA operatives recovered 60,000 pills of tramadol from a suspect named Ibrahim Abba. The suspect, aged 25, was traveling in a commercial Toyota Starlet car from Kalaa village to Mubi. Additionally, in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, operatives intercepted two consignments of skunk weighing a total of 1,242.1 kilograms.
The first consignment, weighing 665.1 kilograms, was seized from a truck around Area 3 on Sunday, August 20. The second consignment, weighing 577 kilograms, was recovered during a stop and search operation along the Lokoja-Abaji expressway on the same day. The drugs were concealed in Jumia goods delivery packs inside a container Mercedes truck. The driver, Yusuf Yakubu Asokomhe, and his assistant, Tunde Ogundare, were arrested.
In Kwara state, operatives on patrol along the Jebba-Minna road intercepted a commercial truck transporting goods from Lagos to Katsina. Among the items, they found 37.5 kilograms of cannabis sativa hidden. The driver, Abdulazeez Usman, and his assistant, Halidu Musa, were arrested for further investigation.
Similarly, in Yobe state, NDLEA operatives intercepted an ash-colored Sharon Galaxy vehicle marked AKK 484 XA along the Potiskum-Gombe road. The vehicle was coming from Baissa in the Kurmi local government area of Taraba state. Three suspects in the vehicle, Ya’u Yahuza (30), Yahaya Muhd (29), and Tanimu Salisu (20), were arrested with 133 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 62 kilograms.
In Edo state, operatives raided the Uzebba forest in Owan West local government area, where they arrested Esazobor Ohioze (33) with 54.3 kilograms of cannabis recovered from a hut. Additionally, they destroyed approximately three hectares of cannabis farms.
Babafemi mentioned that NDLEA operatives, belonging to the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), attached to courier firms in Lagos, frustrated the efforts of transnational drug cartels to transport a consignment of 117 grams of ketamine concealed in a pair of leather male slippers destined for Indonesia. They also intercepted 2.14 kilograms of skunk hidden inside the walls of a local wooden drum.
Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, commended the efforts of the officers and men of various commands in NAIA, Gombe, Ogun, Adamawa, FCT, Kwara, Yobe, and Edo. He encouraged them and their colleagues nationwide to intensify drug supply reduction operations while also focusing on drug demand reduction activities.