The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made a major breakthrough against drug trafficking, apprehending former international footballer, Segun George Hunkarin and his business partner, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Nigeria via Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
Chinedu, a frequent flyer known for transporting clothing from Turkey to Nigeria and foodstuffs from Nigeria to Turkey, was arrested upon arrival at Lagos airport on Tuesday June 24.
A search of his carry-on bag revealed 37 wraps of cocaine, weighing 800 grams, were concealed within, according to NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi.
Babafemi said in a statement sent to Persecondnews on Sunday that investigations revealed that the suspect had travelled from Turkey on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, transiting through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he collected the luggage from another individual before continuing to Nigeria.
The statement reads: “Further inquiries showed that an accomplice, identified as former professional footballer Segun Hunkarin, was waiting for Chinedu in the airport car park to collect the consignment. Hunkarin, who had spent years playing for football clubs in Brazil, was swiftly tracked down and arrested in the car park.
“In his statement, Hunkarin claimed that during his time playing professional football in the South American country, he had trafficked drugs only twice, from Brazil to Ethiopia, and had never brought any to Nigeria.
“In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives on June 27 arrested another Europe-based businessman, Amen Okoro Godstime, at Lagos airport while he attempted to traffic 5,000 pills of tramadol 225mg, disguised as malaria medications such as Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem, to Spain.
“He was intercepted in the departure hall of Terminal 2 during the outward clearance of passengers on a Royal Air Maroc flight to Spain via Casablanca. Okoro, who runs a freight and logistics business between Europe and Nigeria, claimed that upon arrival in Spain, he would take a train to France, where he resides, and from there send the tramadol consignment to Italy for retail.
“At Enugu’s Akanu Ibiam International Airport(AIIA), NDLEA operatives intercepted Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, a bar attendant based in Maputo, Mozambique, on Friday, June 27. A search of his luggage revealed 17 cardboard-sized parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.500 kilograms and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.050 kilograms.
“The 38-year-old suspect was coming from Johannesburg, South Africa via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Ethiopian Airlines flight when he was interdicted and subjected to a search during which the illicit drugs concealed in bedsheets packed in his bags were discovered.”
The statement also reads: “NDLEA operatives at Enugu airport also intercepted another passenger, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, who was on the same Ethiopian Airlines flight. Azu, arriving from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was searched, and a liquid soap container marked YPE was found in his luggage.
“The substance was sent to the NDLEA’s forensic and chemical laboratory in Enugu for analysis, where it tested positive for cocaine. The liquid cocaine weighed 1.250 kilograms. The suspect who is a toy seller in Brinquedo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, claimed he purchased the substance while shopping for his wedding ceremony in Nigeria.
“Meanwhile, on Tuesday, June24, NDLEA operatives at the Seme border area in Badagry, Lagos, intercepted 26-year-old Vode Jean-Luck, a Beninese national, attempting to smuggle 69 balls of skunk – a strain of cannabis weighing 29.5 kilograms – from Benin Republic into Nigeria.
“In a separate operation in Kwara state, NDLEA operatives raided the base of notorious drug dealer Mary Bolanle Oladele, alias Iya Nafi, on Wednesday, June 25, in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area, recovering various quantities of skunk, tramadol, and flunitrazepam.
“On Tuesday, June 24, NDLEA operatives arrested 72-year-old Mrs Christy Ejaro at the Niger CAT area of Warri, Delta state. Several sachets of skunk, packaged for retail, were recovered from her.”
The War Against Drug Abuse(WADA), social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands equally continued across the country in the past week.
Some of the events included WADA sensitisation lectures delivered to students and staff at the following schools: Yakubawa Model Primary School in Zango, Katsina; Police Secondary School in Igboora, Oyo; and Divine Favour International Group of Schools in Bende Local Government Area.
Additionally, Abia; Command Day Secondary School in Ojoo, Ibadan; Mater Dei College in Udi, Enugu; Community Girls Secondary School in Yenagoa, Bayelsa; and Fiyinfolu High School in Ikole Ekiti we’re also visited.
The NDLEA Chairman/CEO, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa, commended the officers and men of the MMIA, AIIA, Delta, Kwara, and Seme Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week.
He also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
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