The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has thwarted a human trafficker’s attempt to export illegal drugs to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), by concealing them in the luggage of an orphan.
Mr. Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, stated this in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja.
According to Babafemi, the suspect, Matthew Bassey, who allegedly recruited the orphan, Ms. Peter Eno, for a phantoms job in an Arab country, was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos.
Bassey, 29, of Oron LGA, Akwa Ibom state, according to Mr. Babafemi was arrested on Wednesday, July 6th, following the arrest of Eno at the Lagos airport’s departure hall.
He claimed that when Eno’s luggage was searched, 50 cannabis packages weighing 2.80 kilograms were found hidden inside food items, and her declared age and the date of birth on her international passport were different.
“Further interview reveals that the human trafficker who recruited and brought her to the airport, Mathew Bassey was still lurking around the airport, waiting for her departure.
“He was promptly tracked and arrested. Investigations revealled that the victim who hails from the same Oron LGA of Akwa Ibom State like Bassey recently lost her mother.
“This made it easy for Bassey to recruit her with the promise of securing her a job in Dubai, UAE.
“It was further discovered that the recruiter leveraged on the victim’s naivety and planted drugs in her bag for onward delivery to his contact in Dubai,” He said.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives intercepted one Aloysius Ajuruchukwu Onyekwe (a.k.a. Kelvin) in Ibadan, Oyo state after receiving intelligence from the Department of State Security.https://www.tvcnews.tv/2022/07/nigeria-seeks-enrollment-in-iec-for-sustainable-development/
Onyekwe, 26, who hails from Owerri West LGA, Imo state was arrested on Sunday 3rd July at Ojo park Ibadan where he went to board a vehicle enroute Sokoto to Algeria. He was traveling with an 18-year-old lady, Blessing Nwoke. The father of a 10-month-old child who passed out the 47 pellets of cocaine in five excretions confessed that he began his journey to Algeria from Cele area of Okota, Lagos where he ingested the illicit drug, weighing 1.1kg.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), Chairman/CEO of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, has commended the officers and men of the Agency’s MMIA, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, and Edo commands for remaining vigilant and proactive in their areas of responsibility. He warned them and their colleagues across the country not to let up.
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