Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended a 54-year-old businessman, Paul Mbadugha, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja after he tested positive for cocaine ingestion. Mbadugha, who was en route to Vietnam, was intercepted on August 12, 2024, at the boarding gate during the outward clearance of a Qatar Airways flight to Hanoi via Doha.
According to the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the suspect was placed under excretion observation, and after four days, he egested 88 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.710 kilograms. Mbadugha, a Lagos-based businessman, confessed that he was given the cocaine pellets by a friend in the Isolo area of Lagos for delivery in Vietnam, with a promised payment of $2,000.
In a related development, NDLEA officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos intercepted a shipment of “Loud,” a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 800 grams and concealed in noodles destined for Congo. A follow-up operation at Alaba International Market in Lagos led to the arrest of Nnamani Sunny, the sender of the consignment, who is a GSM handset dealer.
Additionally, a large consignment of “Loud” imported from Canada was recovered by NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport. A suspect, Desalu Temitope, was arrested upon arrival on an Air France flight with six boxes containing 65.80 kilograms of the substance. Desalu admitted that he and an accomplice, who is currently at large, were promised $10,000 for the successful delivery of the shipment.
Furthermore, NDLEA operatives recovered 892,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup, valued at N6.24 billion, from five containers at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State. The bottles, packed in 5,337 cartons with a gross weight of 133,860 kilograms, were shipped from India and were discovered during a joint examination with the Nigeria Customs and other port stakeholders on August 14 and 15, 2024.
