Ex-footballer caught trafficking cocaine

Okafor Junior, a former football player, was apprehended by agents from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, as he arrived from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on a flight operated by Ethiopian Airlines, carrying 1.40 kilogrammes of crack cocaine.

Anti-narcotic officers discovered the 33-year-old Arochukwu Local Government Area, Abia State native had placed the illegal substance in the handles of his bags and had padded the top edges of the bags when they found him on Monday, September 26, 2022.

The spokesperson for the anti-graft organisation, Femi Babafemi, noted in a statement on Sunday that Okafor revealed during a preliminary interview that he was a former football player with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu FC, where he played for four seasons before departing for Sri Lanka in 2014.

“He further stated that he moved to Brazil from Sri Lanka after playing for two seasons but could not advance his football career in Brazil due to a lack of official documents.

“Another Brazilian returnee, Ibeh Chinedu, was arrested the same day upon his arrival at the Lagos airport from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via an Ethiopian airlines flight. Ibeh, who hails from Ahiazu, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, was found to have concealed 3.20kg of black cocaine popularly known as ‘Lucci’ in the false bottoms of his two bags. In his statement, he said he was to be paid N3,100,000 on the successful delivery of the drug in Nigeria.” Babafemi said.

According to the statement, NDLEA agents successfully stopped a 32-year-old businesswoman named Mrs. Pamela Odin's attempt to transport 2.150kg of rohypnol tablets from Abuja to Istanbul, Turkey.

On Friday, September 23, the mother of one was detained as she tried to board a Turkish Airlines flight with the drug hidden inside pepper and packed among food items.

According to reports, the native of Afiesere village in Ughelli North LGA, Delta State, claimed to own a restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey, but had been to Nigeria to visit family and buy supplies for her eatery.

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