Two suspects, Ugochukwu Nwafor and
Chidozie Okonkwo were recently arrested by law enforcement agents at the
Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for attempting to
smuggle 2.880 kg of a substance believed to be cocaine out of the
country.
During the outward screening of the
passengers on a British Airways flight to London, Nwafor and Okonkwo
were found to have ingested 175 wraps of the hard drug.
Confirming the arrest, the commander of
the National Drug Law Emnforcement Agency at the MMI airport, Mr. Hamza
Umar, said the suspects were caught after a positive signal was
triggered by the scanning machines.
“The suspects tested positive to drug
ingestion and were placed under observation. Nwafor ingested 73 wraps of
cocaine weighing 1.395kg while Okonkwo ingested 102 wraps weighing
1.485kg. They were detected on the same flight,” Hamza said.
A dealer in phones at the Computer
Village, in Ikeja, Nwafor,37, resides at Igando while Okonkwo lives in
East London. Having confessed their involvement, both of them are said
to be cooperating with narcotic investigators.
“I used to be a successful businessman
until I made a wrong investment three years ago in which I lost over
N3.5m in China. As a result of the loss, I became indebted and was lured
into drug trafficking by a friend,” Nwafor told CRIME DIGEST.
Okonkwo claimed to have obtained a
Master’s degree in Innovative Management from the British Institute of
Technology and E-Commerce in London. He said, “I was only trying to make
ends meet. I live in East London where I had my post-graduate studies
but joblessness turned me into another man. It was a tough decision for
me to smuggle drugs but I really needed the £5000 I was offered. I feel
bad that things have turned this way for me. It is like a dream.”
Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA,
Ahmadu Giade attributed the involvement of a master’s degree holder in
drug trafficking to moral decadence. “Parents should inculcate good
morals in their children; I urge members of the public to eschew drug
trafficking by joining the anti-drug abuse and trafficking crusade.
Arrangements are in place for the suspects to be charged in line with
the NDLEA Act,” he said.
Had they successfully smuggled the drug into Britain, Nwafor and Okonkwo would have been paid £4,000 and £5,000, respectively.-punch
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