Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 50-year-old businessman, Iheanacho Osuoha, at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for ingesting 90 wraps of cocaine.

Osuoha was intercepted on Wednesday at the arrival hall of the Enugu airport during the inbound screening of passengers arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

The anti-drug agency also reported dismantling a drug syndicate in the country led by a Chinese national, Tianzhen Yen, aka Jackie, for aiding and possessing 4.3 grams of cocaine, along with other substances.

A statement by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday explained that Osuoha’s arrest followed months of intelligence gathering and surveillance.

“He was subsequently placed on excretion observation during which he egested 90 pellets of cocaine weighing 2.019 kilograms in seven excretions. Investigation reveals that the suspect, who operates a phone and accessories business in Lagos and Gabon, Central Africa, travelled by road from Gabon to Douala, Cameroon, from where he took a flight to Addis Ababa, where he swallowed the pellets of cocaine while in transit and thereafter continued his journey to Enugu with Lagos as his final destination,” Babafemi added.

The NDLEA PRO noted that Osuoha deliberately complicated his movement to obscure traces of his travel history, unaware that he had been on the agency’s watchlist for the past three months.

“In his statement, Osuoha said he desperately needed the money from the criminal drug trade to boost his declining phone and accessories business,” Babafemi continued.

In a related operation, Babafemi noted that Jackie was arrested after NDLEA operatives intercepted a bus driven by Yakubu Mark, which was en route to Ghana, and found 750 grams of cocaine in the vehicle.

He said, “Another drug syndicate operated by a Chinese man, 58-year-old Tianzhen Yen (alias Jackie), has been dismantled by NDLEA operatives following his arrest at his hotel in the Ikeja area of Lagos.

“Officers of the Seme Special Area Command of the agency had on Thursday, November 21, intercepted a 40-year-old suspect, Yakubu Emmanuel Mark, in a commercial bus going to Ghana at the Gbaji checkpoint along the Badagry-Seme Expressway based on credible intelligence.

“When he was searched, a total of 750 grams of cocaine were found in his bag. A swift follow-up operation was organised to trace and arrest the kingpin behind the trans-border drug trafficking syndicate, who turned out to be a Chinese citizen, Tianzhen Yen.

“He was eventually traced to the MC Hotel behind Alade Market, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos. When his hotel room was searched, 4.3 grams of cocaine, a gram of methamphetamine, two electronic weighing scales, and a Chinese National Identification Number Card, among other exhibits, were recovered while he was arrested in the vicinity of the hotel.”

Babafemi also reported that in another well-coordinated operation by the NDLEA’s Special Operations Unit on Thursday, 42-year-old Ndive Obinna, the head of a cocaine distribution cartel, was arrested along with five associates at Ago Palace Way in Okota, Isolo, Lagos.

He noted that 2.412 kilograms of cocaine were recovered from the group.

“Other members of the drug trafficking organisation arrested along with Obinna include: Okeke Gloria Ifeoma, who is the syndicate’s stash keeper; Ikechebelu Emmanuel Chibuzor; Okorie Onyedikachi; Okonkwo Nnabugo Prince; and Okafor Blessing Anita,” Babafemi said.

At the Tin Can Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Friday, November 22, intercepted 92 parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing a total of 23.25 kilograms. The drugs were concealed in two vehicles imported from Canada—a Nissan car and a GMC bus.

Babafemi added that the discovery was made during a joint examination of a container from Canada, carried out by NDLEA officers, men of the Nigeria Customs Service, and other stakeholders.

In Rivers State, Babafemi stated that NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Port complex, Onne, intercepted two containers of imported opioids during a joint examination with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on November 21.

“A total of 168,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N1,176,000,000 only in street value were recovered from one of the containers, while the second one contained 4,500,000 pills of super royal tramadol 225mg, valued at N3,150,000,000 only, bringing the combined value of both the codeine and tramadol consignments to N4,326,000,000 only,” the statement added.

In Ekiti State, Babafemi reported the arrest of a 50-year-old woman with a disability who was caught with 286 grams of drugs.

He said, “In Ekiti State, the NDLEA operatives on Sunday, November 17, arrested a 50-year-old physically challenged woman, Mustapha Boja, with 286 grams of Colorado and Loud strains of cannabis at Araromi Street, Ikere-Ekiti, while 64 kilograms of cannabis sativa were recovered at Akinyele motor park, Ibadan, Oyo State on Thursday.”