The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Saturday said its officials discovered wraps of narcotics in the collar of a passenger’s jacket at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
The NDLEA said it was its first discovery of cocaine inside the collar of a jacket by any drug suspect.
The Head, Public Affairs, NDLEA, Ofoyeju Mitchell, said the arrest was made shortly after the suspect disembarked from the aircraft on his way from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The agency said the 31-yearold suspect, Agwu Samuel, allegedly “confidently wore the jacket containing the drugs,” but the drugs were discovered by its officers “through experience and insight.”
The Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Mr Muhammad Abdallah, was quoted as saying the suspect’s action was “desperately crafty and cunning.”
He said, “The cocaine was detected by officers, notwithstanding the crafty and cunning mode of concealment.
The agency has taken some strategic measures aimed at disappointing the tricks employed
by drug trafficking syndicates.
We remain committed to exposing criminal plots through superior counter-narcotic intelligence. This operational success is commendable and a demonstration of our alertness to detect drugs.”
NDLEA Commander, MMIA, Mr. Ahmadu Garba, was quoted as saying the suspect was arrested during a routine check on passengers.
He said, “Ten wraps of cocaine weighing 110 grammes were found inside the collar of his jacket during the screening of passengers on a South Africa Airline flight from Brazil through Johannesburg. The drug was carefully hidden inside the jacket and investigation is ongoing.”
In his statement, Samuel, who attended Technical Secondary School in Ohafia, Abia State, and sells shoes in Togo, was quoted as saying that he went to Brazil in search of greener pastures but resorted to drug trafficking due to frustration.
He said, “I used to sell shoes in Togo until I lost goods worth N3m. This negatively affected my business and made me to travel to Brazil in a desperate search for greener pastures. After a fruitless search for a job in Brazil for four months, I decided to smuggle drugs to get some money to start my shoe business. I thought the drugs will not be detected inside my jacket but I was caught and I am very sad.”
The NDLEA said Samuel would soon be charged to court.
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