Drug trafficker excretes 97 wraps of cocaine after arrest at Lagos airport

A drug trafficker, Chigbogu Ernest Obiora, 47, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.

Disclosing the development on Friday, the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said Obiora was arrested on Sunday, April 25, and subsequently put under observation during which he excreted 97 wraps of cocaine with a total weight of 1.55 kilogrammes and a street value of N360 million.

Babafemi said, “He was arrested about 1:16pm on Sunday, April 25, 2021, during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airline. He had arrived Lagos onboard the airline from Entebbe, Uganda via Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.”

Commenting on the arrest, the NDLEA Commander at the airport, Ahmadu Garba, said Obiora was intercepted in the E-arrival hall of the airport by the operatives of the agency on the suspicion that he ingested drug substance.

“The suspect was taken for body machine scan and the result was positive for ingestion of substance suspected to be an illicit drug. The suspect was promptly moved to the NDLEA excretion/observation facility,” he said.

Barely an hour after his arrest, Obiora was said to have excreted 31 wraps of cocaine weighing 500 grammes and another 47 wraps weighing 750 grammes in the evening of same day, while he excreted another 19 wraps weighing about 300 grammes the following day, Monday, April 26.

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Meanwhile, undergoing interrogation, Obiora was said to have claimed he was promised $1,500 if he successfully trafficked the drugs, noting that he only agreed on the deal because he needed money.

“I did it so that I will be capable of feeding my family. I was living in Madagascar but due to the COVID-19 and the lockdown in the country, I couldn’t go back to my place of work.

“There was a time I started lacking money to feed my family and to pay my children’s school fees and the worst part of it is to pay my rent. So, I decided to take the option to do it,” he reportedly said.

By Victor Uzoho…

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