A 32-year-old textile merchant, Paul
Emujue, has been arrested by officials of the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency for importing 5.745kg of cocaine worth N57m.
Emujue was said to have hidden the
cocaine inside laptop bags. He was said to be on his way from Sao Paulo,
Brazil, when he was apprehended at the Murtala Muhammed International
Airport, Lagos.
A statement by NDLEA Head of Public Affairs, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, said NDLEA Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, confirmed the arrest.
Umar said, “The drug was detected during
the inward screening of passengers on Etihad flight. The cocaine was
ingeniously packed in laptop bags such that we had to cut the bags open
to detect the drug. The suspect could have escaped arrest, had the drug
not been detected.”
Ofoyeju, however, said investigation had
commenced into the case and Emujue, who hailed from Anambra State,
would be charged to court at the conclusion of investigation.
NDLEA spokesperson said the suspect was single and dropped out of school in Junior Secondary School in 1988.
The secondary school dropout said, “I
ventured into drug trafficking because of frustration. For the past 10
years, I have been dealing in textiles in Togo. In 2011, I relocated to
Brazil in search of greener pastures.
“Unfortunately, my business did not
flourish as I had expected. I was assured that I could make enough money
from drug trafficking to invest in my business. I decided to give it a
trial and I was arrested in the process.”
NDLEA Chairman, Ahmadu Giade, said, “The
agency will continue to arrest drug traffickers and charge them to
court. This arrest is commendable. Members of the public must note that
it is wrong to raise capital from drug trafficking because anyone that
ventures into the criminal act will be prosecuted. I urge stakeholders
to partner with the NDLEA in fighting drug trafficking.”
