NDLEA seizes Europe-bound illegal drugs at Lagos airport

The Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos State, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has been the destination of illegal substances en route to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and Europe, particularly cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and ephedrine.

In a statement Wednesday, NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi claimed that some of the drug's distributors had been detained. Iwuozor Chinedu, a Nigerian living in Athens, Greece, is one of them.

The statement claims that on February 3, Chinedu disembarked from an Ethiopian Airlines flight after NDLEA officials on the tarmac team seized two bags during a secondary inspection at the bottom of the plane.

The statement reads: “When the bags were searched in the presence of Chinedu and other airport stakeholders, two big pellets wrapped with foil papers and some sprinkles of pepper were recovered from each of the two sides of one of the bags. The pellets were used to construct false walls at the sides of the bag.

“The two parcels contained substances that tested positive to cocaine and heroin, with a gross weight of 1.30kgs and 900grams. During a preliminary interview, Chinedu claimed he came to Nigeria three months ago for surgery which he was not comfortable doing in Athens. He further claimed he was given the bag to deliver in Greece for N2 million.