Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 38-year-old businesswoman, identified as Iwebema Ogechi Peace, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing, China, with 7.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in the false bottom of her suitcase.
The suspect, who claimed she frequently travelled to China to purchase goods for sale in Nigeria, was arrested at the departure hall of Terminal 2 after credible intelligence. A search of her luggage uncovered four parcels of cocaine hidden in a false compartment.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 40-foot container loaded with 4,959 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, with an estimated street value of N12.397 billion, at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
The seizure followed more than four weeks of intelligence-led surveillance and was made during a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service, other security agencies, and port stakeholders.
According to the agency, the container, which also contained a Ford and a Nissan vehicle, had been under surveillance since April 25 after departing Toronto, Canada. It travelled through Montreal and Morocco before arriving in Lagos, where it was intercepted at Apapa Port.
The agency also uncovered a syndicate that allegedly plants illicit drugs in the luggage of unsuspecting passengers at motor parks. Following operations in Abuja and Anambra, several suspects were arrested.
In other operations, NDLEA recovered 209.5kg of Scottish Loud in Lagos, intercepted 558,900 pills of Tramadol concealed in a truck from Togo, and arrested multiple suspects linked to drug trafficking across the country.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), commended the officers involved and urged them to sustain the agency’s fight against illicit drug trafficking and drug abuse across the country.
