The National Drug Law Enforcement, NDLEA, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos said it has arrested a 34-year-old man, Nriagwu Augustine Ifeanyi, with 1.370kg of whitish powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine.
The arrest and seizure took place at the departure hall during screening of passengers on a Turkish Airline flight. The suspect was on his way to Turkey but his final destination was to have been South Sudan.
The NDLEA commandant at the MMIA, Hamza Umar, told journalists at the airport that the drug was discovered carefully packed in two parcels inside a laptop bag.
Ifeanyi is said to have made confessionary statements upon interrogation, claiming that he had been promised $3,5000 to smuggle the hard drug.
“I wanted to use the 3,500 dollars they promise to pay me to take care of my personal problems. I relocated to South Sudan in January 2013. I am married with a child but I am unable to care for my family due to financial constraint,” he told his interrogators.
The chairman and chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, said that the agency would continue to engage in both drug supply and demand reduction activities towards making the country drug-free.
“The NDLEA will continue to pursue its mandate with all diligence. We shall cut off the supply of drug through arrests and prosecution of drug traffickers. We shall also intensify our anti-drug abuse public enlightenment programmes” Giade stated.
The suspect according to the agency will soon be charged to court.