The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
has apprehended four suspected drug traffickers at the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, Lagos for attempting to smuggle cocaine to
Brazil.
It was learnt that the suspects ─
Ejiofor Eliezer (46), Obah Francis (30), Akpa Sobuzochukwu (27) and
36-year-old Ike Okechukwu ─ excreted 171 wraps of drug that tested
positive for cocaine.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the discovery was made during the screening of passengers on board Qatar and Emirates airlines.
Eliezer, who excreted 100 wraps of the
drug, told investigators that poverty pushed him to commit the crime,
adding that he had intended to use the expected proceed to fend for his
family of four.
“I live in Brazil, where I work in a
supermarket and lived with my wife and four children. Life in Brazil is
tough because I live from hand to mouth. It was poverty that made me to
smuggle drugs. I took risk by swallowing 100 wraps of cocaine for
N200,000 because of poverty.”
Francis said he took to drug trafficking to augment the meager salary he earned at a bakery in Brazil.
“I am single and have been working in
Brazil for two years. At present, I work in a bakery and my salary is
meager. My plan was to give the drug to a friend in Dubai, but he did
not come to collect the drug as planned. This was how I had to come to
Nigeria with the drug. I blame my friend for my arrest because I would
have made S15,000 (about N2.8m) from the deal.”
Sobuzochukwu, who holds a diploma in
accounting, also said his poor salary as a cleaner forced him to ingest
26 wraps of cocaine for a fee of S1,500 (about N285,000).
Okechukwu said he did not think that he
would be arrested. He said he had thought that the five wraps of cocaine
he ingested would not be detected.
“I regret my involvement in drug
trafficking. I dropped out of school in Junior Secondary School class
two and I work in a toy company in Brazil,” he added.
The NDLEA Chairman, Ahmadu Giade, said
Brazil-Nigeria route was a high risk path to drug trafficking and urged
officers to be vigilant.
“The suspects will soon be charged to court,” Giade added.
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