Illicit drug worth N7 billion on Monday was seized at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The drugs discovered to be cocaine weighing 3.30kg was seized from a passenger at the E-wing of the airport during the inward clearance of passengers from Ethiopian airlines from Guarulhos International Airport, Sao Paolo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The suspected drug traffickers, Mr. Ukaegbu Bright Onyekachi, was arrested at the E-wing of the airport during the inward clearance of Ethiopian airlines from Guarulhos International Airport, Sao Paolo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday this week.
The NDLEA Airport commander, Mr. Ahmadu Garba, said the suspect Mr. Ukaegbu Bright Onyekachi, cleverly concealed the drug in 68 T-shirts after heat transfer, probably in a factory in Brazil.
He described the mode of concealment as ingenious, but with the experience of the NDLEA officials they were able to detect and expose the mode of concealment by the couriers.
He said: “The total weight of the seized drug is 3.30kg. It is not really a significant seizure when you compare it to the 8.5kg cocaine that was seized recently, but when you look at this seizure, the mode of concealment is very tricky. Our officials have to be experienced to discover this.
“Drug trafficking is a huge money business and definitely, anything that is money, people will want to do it. I want to say that the Covid-19 pandemic slowed them down and I want to believe they want to meet up with the lost time”.
“However, during the pandemic, my officers had enough time to do some refresher courses especially online. I want to say the training we had during this period had helped our officials to get learn some of the ingenious ways they conceal these drugs.”
He reiterated that the NDLEA especially the command would not tolerate any dastardly act through the airport, stressing that the emergence of Buba Marwa, the Chairman, NDLEA, had further reinvigorated the officials of the agency.
The drug suspect, Mr. Ukaegbu claimed the check-in luggage was handed over to him by one Kingsley in Brazil who he had only met twice.
Ukaegbu who said he was a cooperative attendant in Brazil, said he had been residing in the Southern American country for five years.
He insisted he was unaware the T-shirts were laced with cocaine and appealed to the government to “tamper justice with mercy.”
He said: “I was not aware that the drug was in my check-in luggage. The person that handed over the luggage to me told me there was nothing inside the bag. I thoroughly checked the bag for drugs. What I saw there were clothes for children and adults.
He also said Kingsley didn’t promise him any amount of money for helping to carry the luggage to Nigeria.
“He was someone I met there as a Nigerian and his name is Kingsley. I don’t have his contact and he promised that someone will call me today to collect the luggage from me. I didn’t have the phone contact of Kingsley”.
“This is my first time of being caught in this web. I have never been found or in possession of any drug in my life. This is my first time of experiencing this and my first time of seeing drugs”.
