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 reporters
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.
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