The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 24 parcels of cocaine concealed in 12 lawn mower tyres allegedly imported into the country through the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA) by a Brazilian returnee, Okechukwu Francis Amaechi.
Spokesman of the agency Femi Babafemi, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said Amaechi, 45, had just finished serving a jail term in March this year for drug trafficking in the South American country.
Babafemi said the suspect, who hails from Idemili South council of Anambra State, was arrested at the Port Harcourt airport on May 7 upon arrival from Brazil via Doha onboard a Qatar Airline flight.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Amaechi completed his jail time in March 2022, after which he returned to Nigeria with three new lawn mowers in which he concealed 24 parcels of cocaine weighing 4.56kg, the NDLEA spokesman said.
Babafemi said, “The two parcels in one of the tyres of the first lawn mower bear ‘O LORD’ and ‘HAVE MERCY’. The parcels in one of the tyres of the second mower bears the inscription ‘IN GOD” and ‘WE TRUST’, while the third mower has ‘IJIOMA’ and ‘186.6’ inscribed on the two parcels hidden in one of its tyres. Okechukwu claimed one of his church members gave him the lawn mowers to deliver to his brother in Port Harcourt.”
He said in other operations across Zamfara, Kogi, Rivers, Kaduna and Kano state, no fewer than 37, 876 tablets of pharmaceutical opioids especially Tramadol; 10,884 bottles of codeine and 825.016 kilograms of cannabis sativa were recovered during raids in the past week.
“In Zamfara State, a Mercedes Benz truck from Onitsha to Sokoto was intercepted in Tsafe area on Friday 20th May. In Kogi State, a fake security agent, Richard Agada, was arrested on Wednesday 18th May while conveying 10 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 116.8kg in a white Nissan van. Various quantities of opioids and cannabis were equally seized in two separate operations the previous Tuesday and Monday in other parts of the state with the arrest of a drug dealer, Ayuba Nda Isah, 32.”
In Kaduna, three suspects were arrested on Tuesday 17th of May at Warri Street within the state capital with 4,900 tablets of Tramadol, 890 ampoules of Diazepam injection, 257 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 1,950 tablets of Nitrazepam and 830 tablets of Carbazapine.
“Equally, in Kano State, a drug dealer, Abubakar Abdullahi, 47, with 5,970 capsules and tablets of Tramadol was arrested, while Nasiru Musa and Musa Mohammed were also nabbed with 5,000 caps of the same drug on Tuesday 17th May,” Babafemi added.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.
