Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have intercepted and seized 30.10 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in containers of powdered custard at the Lagos airport.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, announced this in a statement on Sunday.
Babafemi said the illicit drug has a street value of N567 million per kilogramme, adding that it was to be transported to the United Kingdom when it was intercepted on May 16.
The consignment, he said, weighed 30.10 kilograms and was part of a “consolidated cargo” to London.
According to the agency’s, a “series of follow-up operations” led to the arrest of a freight agent, Nwobodo Chidiebere; a female suspect, Chioma Lucy Akuta and the ultimate drug lord behind the shipment, Charles Chinedu Ezeh, who was arrested on May 18, at Sotel Suites, Amuwo Odofin in Lagos.
“Ezeh claims he is a businessman and deals in articles in Onitsha, Anambra State but investigations revealed he lived with his wife and children in London until 10th December 2022, when he fled to Nigeria after his involvement in a drug-related offence in the UK.
“Though he claimed to have been living in hotels since his return to Nigeria last December, operatives were, however, able to locate his mansion at No. 1 Hawawu Abikan Street, Lekki, on Friday 19th May, where a search was conducted and his travel and property documents, among others, were recovered.”
NDLEA operatives also arrested a notorious drug dealer in Mubi LGA of Adamawa State.
Babafemi added, “NDLEA operatives in Adamawa on Monday 15th May, arrested a 32-year-old notorious drug dealer, Prince Ikechukwu Uzoma, in Mubi area of the state with 1kg of skunk.
“Ikechukwu had twice been arrested in the past, and convicted for the same offence. He was in 2017 sentenced to six months imprisonment and in 2019, he was again sentenced to two years in jail.”
The Agency also said on Wednesday, May 17, Faisal Mohammed, 27, a trans-border trafficker, was arrested in Mubi, following the interception of a truck from Onitsha, Anambra state.
It disclosed that a total of “2,376 sachets of tramadol comprising 23,760 pills” were found
concealed in three blue rubber Jerrycans, hidden underneath the trailer.
The suspect, it added, admitted the opioid was to be taken to Cameroon.
The Agency’s spokesman added that operatives also arrested some suspects and made seizures of illegal substances in Oyo, Kaduna, Edo, Anambra, Kwara, Jigawa and Kano states.