The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said its operatives have thwarted the bid by members of an international drug syndicate that operates between Brazil, Ethiopia, and Nigeria to smuggle into Lagos a total of 845 wraps of cocaine weighing 18.72 kilograms at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja.
According to the NDLEA, the drug consignments, worth Four Billion Four Hundred and Ninety-Two Million Eight Hundred Thousand Naira (₦4,492,800,000) in street value, were recovered from two lavatories of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft during the post-landing cleaning of the cabin of flight ET900 from Addis Ababa to Lagos on Tuesday, October 29, 2024.
This was contained in a statement by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, on Sunday.
Babafemi disclosed that the illicit drug consignments were wrapped in nine polythene bags and hidden in the waste collectors in the two rear lavatories of the aircraft, from where they were recovered after the MMIA Strategic Command of NDLEA was alerted about the strange objects.
He stated that no fewer than 30 suspects have so far been interrogated in connection with the seizure.
Babafemi further added that investigations revealed that the seized drugs were conveyed from Brazil to Ethiopia through ingestion and excreted in Addis Ababa by a set of couriers, while some other traffickers picked them up and attempted to smuggle them into Nigeria through the Lagos airport before their attempt was frustrated with the cooperation of the airline’s authorities and other airport stakeholders.
In the same vein, the NDLEA announced that attempts by some drug trafficking syndicates to export 2.928 kg of cocaine, cannabis, and tramadol (225 mg) concealed in body cream containers and pieces of artwork to Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom through some courier companies in Lagos were also blocked by its officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) on Monday, October 28.
