THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said an Onitsha-based businessman, Ibeanusi Nosike had excreted 68 wraps of cocaine after being observed for 12 days.
The 36-year-old Nosike was arrested while boarding a flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos on Thursday, August 8 to Abuja.
Nosike was scheduled to join a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja at about 10 am the same day.
The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, August 25.
“An Onitsha, Anambra state based-businessman, Ibeanusi Solomon Nosike, has excreted 68 wraps of cocaine after 12 days of excretion observation following his arrest at the local wing of the MMIA Ikeja Lagos by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
“The 36-year-old Ibeanusi was arrested in the early hours of Thursday 8th August 2024 at the old domestic terminal of the Lagos airport while attempting to board the first flight out of Lagos to Abuja where he was scheduled to join a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja at about 10 am the same day,” Babafemi stated.
He said Nosike had been under the agency’s surveillance since his arrival from Anambra state on August 7.
After his interception by NDLEA operatives, Nosike was moved into excretion observation, where he spent the next 12 days excreting the cocaine pellets weighing 1.282 kilograms, Babafemi hinted.
In a related development, the NDLEA spokesman revealed that another Onitsha-based businessman, Aligbo Jacob, the operatives following the seizure of a consignment of 1.20kg cannabis concealed in a package going to Dubai, UAE.
“Operatives at the MMIA Strategic Command of the Agency had intercepted the shipment at the export shed of the Lagos airport while investigations revealed the cargo was sent through a courier company in Onitsha. After a series of follow-up operations, Aligbo was eventually arrested in Onitsha on Saturday, 17th August,” Babafemi said.
He asserted that there is an all-female drug trafficking gang, trafficking drugs outside the country.
He said the leader of the syndicate, 42-year-old Olaribigbe Feyisara, had been under NDLEA radar before being tracked and arrested.
He also revealed that four other members of the gang have been arrested.
“Operatives of a Special Operations Unit in NDLEA have arrested five cross-border female drug traffickers at the Seme border while on their way back to Lagos from Ghana.
“Leader of the syndicate, 42-year-old Olaribigbe Bashirat Feyisara, has been under NDLEA radar before being tracked and arrested on August 21 along with other members of her gang: Abogun Fatimah Ladidi; Osibeluwo Tolulope Oluwaseun; Akanni Balikis Oluwatoyin and Ajetumobi Amudalat,” Babafemi said.
He said 14 packs of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, weighing a total of 6.97kg, were recovered from hidden parts of their bodies.
The NDLEA disclosed that recently, it had made an interception of cocaine worth N2.2 billion at the Lagos port.
The NDLEA has also made some arrests recently including in Edo, Kogi, and Oyo states, Babafemi added.