A 44-year-old businessman has been arrested while attempting to travel to Iran with ingested 53 wraps of cocaine.
In a statement released on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi Christian was arrested at the Port Harcourt airport on June 7 while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight QR1434 to Tehran Khomeini in Iran, via Doha.
It read “After a body scan proved positive to ingestion of illicit drugs, he was placed on excretion observation during which he expelled 53 wraps of cocaine in six excretions with a total weight of 1.172kg,” the statement reads.
“The suspect claimed to have gone into the criminal trade two years ago, moving between the West African sub-region and Iran.”
The statement also revealed that on June 14, the agency’s personnel intercepted an Italy bound passenger on an Air France flight, Edobor Ambrose Ali, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja, Lagos.
It read “The NDLEA officers in collaboration with the Aviation Security of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), discovered drug consignments hidden in the luggage of the suspect during baggage scanning at the tarmac.
“The suspect was thereafter brought down from the aircraft for baggage identification, after which a thorough search of the bag led to the discovery of 14,410 pills of tramadol 225mg and 200mg concealed in winter jackets.
“In his statement, Ebodor said he lives in Italy, where he was hired and sent on an all-expense-paid trip to Nigeria to courier the drug consignments to Milan, Italy, for a fee of 2000 Euros.”
