Metro
NDLEA nabs Driver, trader for swallowing N39m worth of cocaine
[one_half]Officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a driver, Chinweuba Echezona and a trader, Ekwueme Louis importing cocaine worth N39m, which they swallowed, into the country.[/one_half]
The two suspects were arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, during the screening of passengers aboard Emirates Airline flight from Dubai. The drug weighed 4.3kgs
Speaking on the arrest, NDLEA spokesman, Mitchell Ofoyeju, said the suspects, 54-year-old Echezona 44-year-old Louis, had ingested some of the drugs and concealed part of it in their luggage.
Ofoyeju said: “The suspects were caught during the screening of passengers on an Emirates flight from Dubai. The NDLEA commander at the airport, Ahmed Garba, said that both suspects are under
investigation.
“Echezona packed 103 wraps of cocaine in his waist and ingested 69 wraps weighing 2.745kgs while Louis concealed 75 wraps in his luggage and ingested five wraps.
Read also: Couple, 7 others arrested over N1bn ghost workers fraud
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects were promised N500,000 each to smuggle the drugs from Dubai to Nigeria. Their trip was fully sponsored by an unidentified drug trafficking organisation.
“However, efforts are on-going to trace and arrest their sponsors. Martins is married with five children while Louis is married with three children.”
Speaking on how he got involved in drug trafficking, Echezona he was a driver but had been out of job for a while.
“I have been searching for job and my condition was so bad that I could not feed and discharge my responsibilities as a husband to my wife and father to my children. This was the reason I went into drug trafficking. I did it in order to survive the economic hardship”, Echezona said.
On his part, Louis, who also attributed his involvement in drug trafficking to poverty said: “I used to sell jewellery but I have lost everything including my shop due to family problems. I feel ashamed that I cannot take care of my family and pay the school fees of my children,” he said.
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