Agency announces arrest of drug trafficking suspects

A single mother, Esther Afegbai, 35, has been apprehended for alleged drug trafficking by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the agency announced over the weekend.

The suspect was arrested on October 16 during a routine check of passengers at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

According to the agency, Ms. Afegbai was arrested while trying to board an Alitalia flight to Rome, Italy.

"The suspect who has two grown up daughters had lived in Ferrara, Italy, for 10 years but she said there is nothing to show for her years of sojourn outside the shores of her motherland," said Mitchell Ofoyeju, the agency's spokesperson.

Mr. Ofoyeju disclosed that the suspect tested positive to drug ingestion and was found to have swallowed 83 wraps of substances, weighing 1.140kg, that were proven to be cocaine and heroin.

"Out of the total wraps, 60 tested positive for cocaine weighing 820g while 23 wraps tested positive for heroin with a weight of 320g," he said.

He said the suspect claimed she was introduced into the business of drug trafficking by her boyfriend who she referred to as Izu.

Ms. Esther, who hails from Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State said she consented to smuggling the drugs, because of Izu's promise to marry her after the deal.

"I swallowed the drugs at a hotel in Festac town, Lagos. They first gave me 55 wraps which I swallowed between 7am and 1pm. After resting for three hours, I took the remaining 28 wraps till 5.30pm. It was not easy swallowing the wraps of drugs; I told them I cannot take any more and I left for the airport only to be caught by NDLEA," she said.

According to Ms. Afegbai, Izu's sponsors promised to pay her 5,000 euros.

Also, the agency, on October 15, arrested Agubor Nelson, 42, at about 8pm, during the screening of passengers on an Iberia flight to Spain; and Ndubuisi Uzor, 37, who was arrested with a South African passport with the name Gagga Baggio, during the screening of passengers on an Arik Air flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.

The agency disclosed that Mr. Nelson, who is a welder, swallowed 80 wraps of hard drugs after being lured by his secondary school friend at Ikeja, Lagos.

Mr. Uzor, whose South African wife was not aware of his involvement in drug peddling as he disclosed, concealed 4.2kg of powdery substances that tested positive to ephedrine in a false bottom of his luggage.

According to Mr. Ofoyeju, the agency's spokesperson, the three suspects had attempted to export 1.9kg of cocaine, 320g of heroin, and 4.2kg of ephedrine out of Nigeria.

"All suspects will soon be charged to court," he said.

Ahmadu Giade, the chief executive for the agency, in a statement, disclosed that the anti-drug peddling agency would continue to beef up its drug control capacity at the entry and exit points, stressing that the agency is making public any arrests so as to deter Nigerians from trafficking drugs.