A 50-year-old businessman, Osuoha Christian Iheanacho, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for ingesting 90 wraps of cocaine. The suspect, who sells phones and accessories in Lagos and Gabon, was intercepted on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at the arrival hall of the Enugu airport.
According to Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy, the suspect had traveled from Gabon to Douala, Cameroon, and then took a flight to Addis Ababa, where he ingested the pellets of cocaine while in transit. He then continued his journey to Enugu, with Lagos as his final destination.
The suspect was placed on excretion observation, during which he egested 90 pellets of cocaine weighing 2.019 kilograms in seven excretions. Osuoha claimed that he desperately needed the money from the criminal drug trade to boost his declining phone and accessories business.
In a related operation, a Special Operations Unit of the Agency arrested the head of a cocaine distribution cartel, 42-year-old Ndive Maxwell Obinna, along with five of his associates in Lagos. A total of 2.412 kilograms of cocaine were recovered from them.