The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted multiple illicit drug consignments cleverly concealed in car side mirrors, ladies’ lipsticks, and footwear in a series of operations that led to several arrests across Lagos, Abuja, and other parts of the country.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, made a significant bust on July 19. A shipment destined for Libreville, Gabon, was found to contain 57,420 pills of Tramadol 225mg and 57 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.60kg, ingeniously hidden inside 71 vehicle side mirrors.
The seizure led to the arrest of a cargo agent identified as Ihekweme Benedict. A follow-up operation further resulted in the arrest of Uzochukwu Chukwurah, from whose residence 11 more parcels of cocaine weighing 1kg were recovered. In total, the agency seized 2.60kg of cocaine across 68 parcels in this operation.
In another case, NDLEA officers tracked a consignment from July 10 to the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos, where they arrested a businesswoman, Nwafor Nneka. The consignment, which was headed to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, contained cocaine and phenacetine concealed inside ladies’ lipsticks.
Two cargo agents had earlier been arrested in connection to the lipstick shipment. Nneka reportedly confessed to purchasing the lipsticks used in the concealment. Meanwhile, her husband and alleged accomplice, Remigus Nwafor, remains at large.
The agency says investigations are ongoing as it intensifies its crackdown on drug trafficking operations nationwide.
