Nine drug traffickers were within one week arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos by the operatives of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The arrests were made between December 24 and 31, 2017 at the airport.
Among the suspects was a South African male. At least, 120kg of several illicit narcotic substances were confiscated from the suspects within the one week period.
Media findings indicated that many of the suspects’ flights originated from Brazil, connected Lagos to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Seven of the suspects were males, including a South African while the other two were females.
Most of the suspects were arrested during the inward screening of passengers on South Africa Airways flights.
According to NDLEA source, many of the suspects thought they had perfected their plans by changing flights in Brazil to South Africa Airways, but they were still arrested at the airport by NDLEA operatives.
The source said: “These NDLEA operatives are very proactive in their operations. They made a lot of arrests of suspected drug traffickers and seizures between December 24 till 31, 2017. While some of the suspects were arrested on the flights of other airlines, the majority of the arrests were made of South Africa Airways’ flights.
“We learnt that the NDLEA operatives have discovered that the suspects have changed their choice of airline from their Brazil base to Nigeria. But, unfortunately for them they were arrested on arrival in Lagos. I can tell you that one of them is a South African who feigned an ailment believing that the agency would allow him go back to his country because of his health condition, but he was wrong as NDLEA officials held on to him, took him to a well-equipped hospital for treatment.
“It was however discovered at the hospital that the suspect was seeking a cunning way to get off the NDLEA’s hook. He has since been returned to his cell after treatment.”
Neither the NDLEA Murtala Muhammed International Airport boss, Mr. Garba nor the agency’s spokesperson, Jonah Scheme was available to comment on the arrests and seizures were not successful.
