NDLEA detains teenager, female lawyer for drug possession

At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), agents of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested Benjamin Nnamani Daberechi, a 19-year-old student, who was in possession of 7.2kg of mathamphetamine.

This was revealed in a statement released on Sunday, July 16 by Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy.

With the intention of exporting the goods to Europe, where Daberechi was going for his undergraduate studies, the shipment was hidden inside a bag of crayfish.

“The teenage suspect was intercepted on Wednesday 12th July, during an outward clearance of passengers on Turkish Airlines flight TK 0624.

“While being interviewed by operatives, Daberechi claimed he was a student on his way to Cyprus for studies, but upon a thorough search of his luggage, he was found in possession of 7.2kg of whitish substance neatly concealed inside a sack of crayfish. A field test of the substance however proved positive to Methamphetamine,” Babafemi noted.

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He also said a female lawyer based in the Lekki area of Lagos state Ebikpolade Helen was arrested in Anambra State for the production and distribution of ‘skuchies’ a local drink manufactured using cannabis, opioids and blackcurrant.

Twelve bottles of the prepared drink and 5kg of cannabis were recovered from her Lekki-residence by the NDLEA.

Other operations carried out across the country led to the arrest of a Lagos resident Abubakar Shuaibu caught with 86 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup, an Ondo resident Abubakar Zayanu Gyambar found with 262 jumbo bags of skunk, among others.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Nigeria is a transit point for heroin and cocaine intended for European, East Asian, and North American markets.

Traffickers smuggle large amounts of illicit drugs through the country which is having adverse effects on migration conditions for Nigerians.

On Saturday July 15, The ICIR reported that The Republic of Seychelles confirmed a ban on Nigerian tourists due to criminal activities traced to some Nigerian tourists, including drug trafficking and fraud.

“We have seen a clear link between this with certain people from Nigeria. In the past two weeks, for example, 13 people coming from Nigeria have been arrested when entering Seychelles because they were carrying drugs into the country,” the country’s Vice President Ahmed Afif said.