Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested ex-footballer, Okafor Emmanuel at the Murtala International Airport.
The ex-footballer, was arrested on his return from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on board an Ethiopian airlines flight with 1.40kg crack cocaine found in his bags.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi on Sunday.
According to Babafemi, the 33-year-old indigene of Arochukwu Local Government, Abia State was arrested on Monday 26th September 2022 after anti-narcotic officers discovered he concealed the illicit substance in the handles of his bags and padded the top edges of same with the class A drug.
He stated, that Okafor was an ex-footballer with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH Enugu FC, where he played for four seasons before leaving for Sri Lanka in 2014, noting that he moved to Brazil from Sri Lanka after playing for two seasons but could not advance his football career in Brazil due lack of official documents.
The statement further revealed, that another Brazilian returnee, Ibeh Chinedu Damian was arrested same day upon his arrival at the Lagos airport from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Ethiopian airlines flight. Ibeh who hails from Ahiazu, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, was found to have concealed 3.20kg black cocaine popularly known as Lucci in false bottoms of his two bags.
In his statement, he said he was to be paid three million, one hundred thousand naira (N3,100,000) on successful delivery of the drug in Nigeria