Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a Vietnam-bound businessman, Paul Mbadugha, at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, for ingesting cocaine.
The 54-year-old suspect was apprehended on Monday, August 12, 2024, while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam, via Doha.
NDLEA officials revealed that Mbadugha had ingested 88 wraps of cocaine, with a total weight of 1.710 kilograms. The illicit substances were excreted over four days under strict observation. The arrest was confirmed in a statement released on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy at the NDLEA Headquarters in Abuja. Mbadugha claimed to be a Lagos-based businessman and admitted that a friend from Isolo, Lagos, had provided the cocaine for delivery in Vietnam, with a promised payment of $2,000.
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In a separate operation, NDLEA officers at the export shed of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, intercepted 800 grams of synthetic cannabis, known as Loud, concealed in noodles and destined for Congo. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the consignment’s sender, Nnamani Sunday Sunny, who was identified as a GSM handset dealer in the Alaba International Market, Lagos.
Furthermore, NDLEA operatives recovered a large consignment of Loud imported from Canada at the Lagos airport. Desalu Taophic Temitope, who arrived on an Air France flight with six boxes, was arrested during a joint examination by security agencies. Four of the six suitcases were found to contain a total of 65.80 kilograms of the psychoactive substance. Desalu confessed that he and an accomplice, currently at large, were promised $10,000 for the successful delivery of the shipment in Lagos.
Babafemi also detailed other significant seizures made by NDLEA across the country. Among these was the recovery of 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup valued at ₦6.2 billion at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Rivers State. The syrup was found in five containers shipped from India. In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives, alongside the Nigerian Army and community youths, destroyed 21,800 kilograms of cannabis sativa cultivated on 20 hectares of farmland in the Ise forest reserve.
Additionally, 200.2 kilograms of cannabis were seized from a Sienna bus along the Onitsha-Enugu road, and 145,400 pills of tramadol were confiscated in Kano. Other operations led to the arrest of suspects in Ogun, Niger, Kogi, and Abuja, with large quantities of drugs, including pentazocine injections and cannabis, being recovered.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers for their diligence in executing these operations. He also praised the ongoing WADA sensitization efforts being carried out by NDLEA commands nationwide.
