THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have arrested an ex-footballer, Okafor Emmanuel Junior, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Photo credit: NDLEA
According to a statement by the NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Okafor was arrested on Monday, September 26, on his arrival from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight with 1.40-kilogramme of crack cocaine concealed in his bags.
The 33-year-old indigene of Arochukwu Local Government, Abia State, concealed the illicit substance in the handles of his bags and padded the top edges of the same with the class A drug.
The statement read, “During a preliminary interview, Okafor disclosed that he was an ex-footballer with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu FC, where he played for four seasons before leaving 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 lack of official documents.”
The agency also arrested another Brazilian returnee, Ibeh Chinedu Damian, on the same day upon his arrival at the Lagos airport from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
Photo credit: NDLEA
According to the NDLEA, Damian, 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 three million, one hundred thousand naira (N3,100,000) on successful delivery of the drug in Nigeria,” the NDLEA said.
In the same vein, an attempt by a 32-year-old businesswoman, Pamela Odin, to traffic 2.150kg tablets of Rohypnol through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja to Istanbul, Turkey, was thwarted by NDLEA operatives.
Photo credit: NDLEA
The mother of one was arrested on Friday, September 23, while attempting to board a Turkish Airline flight with the drug concealed inside pepper and packed among foodstuffs.
The statement added that Odin, an indigene of Afiesere village, Ughelli North Local Government, Delta State, said she operates a restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey, but came to Nigeria to see her relatives and buy food items for her restaurant business.
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