- Safiu Kehinde
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has nabbed a Brazil-based Nigerian businessman, Uche Onyekwere, over alleged drug trafficking.
Onykwere was apprehended last week Thursday at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja-Lagos with parcels of cocaine concealed in his private part and soles of his footwear.
As disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA’s official spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the 47-year-old businessman was arrested during the inward clearance of South African Airways flight passengers arriving from Brazil via Johannesburg following processed intelligence.
He was taken for full body scan with result confirming the illicit drug concealment.
As a result, Onyekwere was subjected to a strip search, during which a big parcel of white powdery substance, which later tested positive for cocaine, was discovered wrapped around his right thigh.
A further search revealed two additional wraps of the same substance concealed in the sole of a pair of flat shoes worn by the suspect.
In all, the NDLEA recovered three large wraps of cocaine, with a gross weight of 1.60 kilograms, from his body and footwear.
During a preliminary interview, the suspect revealed he purchased the illicit drug consignment in Brazil with the intention to resell the cocaine in Nigeria in order to raise capital to boost his business and also finance the naming ceremony of his newly born child.
The suspect who lives in Rua Ever, Mulariuha, São Paulo, claimed that he has been living in Brazil since 2008 while he has been operating a toy business for about nine years.
In another development, the NDLEA at the Tincan seaport in Lagos, recovered a total of 55 jumbo bags of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis with a gross weight of 1,183 kilograms imported from Montreal, Canada.
The consignment concealed in a container was discovered on Wednesday during a joint examination of the shipment by NDLEA officers, Customs and other security agencies.
The illicit consignments were hidden inside two vehicles: a Hyundai SUV and a Toyota Matrix car.