The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has taken one Mbachu Ifeanyi before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly importing 1.14 kilogrammes of cocaine into the country.
In the charge before Justice C.J. Aneke, Ifeanyi was said to have been found in unlawful possession of the illicit substance on July 14, last year.
According to the NDLEA prosecutor, Vembe Emmanuel, the accused was apprehended during the inward clearance of an Emirate Airline from Dubai at the E-Arrival Hall of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
The prosecutor said the accused had acted against the spirit and the letters of Section 11 (a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30, 2004.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the one count brought against him in respect of the alleged crime.
He was subsequently admitted to bail by the judge.
At the resumed trial yesterday, the prosecution, however, brought to court its first witness, one Mohammed Uthman, an operative of the NDLEA.
Uthman, in his testimony, said he got to know the accused in July last year when an exhibit officer at the Murtala International Airport handed over to him some substance suspected to be hard drugs for the purpose of testing.
“I conducted a preliminary test on the substance, using the United Nations test kit. But the substance tested positive for cocaine,” Uthman said.
The witness added that upon weighing, he found the substance to be 1.14 kilogrammes.
He went on to tender before the court various items allegedly recovered from the accused, including three international passports, one Emirate electronic ticket, one hotel voucher and one boarding pass.
The court subsequently admitted the tendered items as exhibits in evidence against the accused.
The matter was adjourned till March 25 for continuation of trial.
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