Two suspects,
Ugochukwu Nwafor and Chidozie Okonkwo were recently arrested by law enforcement
agents at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for attempting to
smuggle 2.880 kg of a substance believed to be cocaine out of the country.
During the outward
screening of the passengers on a British Airways flight to London, Nwafor and
Okonkwo were found to have ingested 175 wraps of the hard drug.
Confirming the
arrest, the commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the MMI
airport, Mr. Hamza Umar, said the suspects were caught after a positive signal
was triggered by the scanning machines.
“The suspects tested
positive to drug ingestion and were placed under observation. Nwafor ingested
73 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.395kg while Okonkwo ingested 102 wraps weighing
1.485kg. They were detected on the same flight,” Hamza said.
A dealer in phones
at the Computer Village, in Ikeja, Nwafor, 37, resides at Igando while Okonkwo lives
in East London. Having confessed their involvement, both of them are said to be
cooperating with narcotic investigators.
“I used to be a
successful businessman until I made a wrong investment three years ago in which
I lost over N3.5m in China. As a result of the loss, I became indebted and was
lured into drug trafficking by a friend,” Nwafor told CRIME DIGEST.
Okonkwo claimed to
have obtained a Master’s degree in Innovative Management from the British
Institute of Technology and E-Commerce in London. He said, “I was only trying
to make ends meet. I live in East London where I had my post-graduate studies
but joblessness turned me into another man. It was a tough decision for me to
smuggle drugs but I really needed the £5000 I was offered. I feel bad that
things have turned this way for me. It is like a dream.”
Chairman/Chief
Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade attributed the involvement of a master’s
degree holder in drug trafficking to moral decadence. “Parents should inculcate
good morals in their children; I urge members of the public to eschew drug
trafficking by joining the anti-drug abuse and trafficking crusade.
Arrangements are in place for the suspects to be charged in line with the NDLEA
Act,” he said.
Had they
successfully smuggled the drug into Britain, Nwafor and Okonkwo would have been
paid £4,000 and £5,000, respectively.
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