The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 36 blocks of cocaine, weighing 27.95 kilogrammes with a street value of over N8 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
The agency’s Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said this in a statement on Sunday.
Babafemi said a Brazil-based drug kingpin, Ejiofor Felix Enwereaku, who led a syndicate, was arrested at the airport on Friday, May 14, 2021
He said the suspect was arrested for importing 27.95kg of cocaine using an organised criminal gang, which specialised in tagging and planting drugs in innocent travellers’ luggage.
He said based on intelligence, narcotic agents at the MMIA had on Saturday May 8th intercepted a bag that arrived the Lagos airport from GRU, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
He said the baggage with tag number ET331199, arrived through an Ethiopian Airline flight but was disclaimed by an arriving passenger on the flight.
He said the disclaimed bag was promptly secured by NDLEA operatives for investigation.
According to him, on Sunday, May 9, a man came to the airport to make inquiry on how to get the disclaimed bag released. He was promptly arrested for investigation.
“The disclaimed bag was opened in the presence of the arriving passenger and the man who came to negotiate the release of the disputed bag,” the NDLEA spokesman added.