A 48-year-old businessman, Emmanuel Orjinze, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for ingesting 111 wraps of cocaine.
Orjinze, who claimed to be a professional footballer in Europe, was arrested on May 21 during the outward clearance of an Air France flight to Paris, France.
According to a statement by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Orjinze was taken into custody after a body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit drugs.
He subsequently excreted 111 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.603 kilograms over three days.
This was made known in a statement signed by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, and shared on the agency’s website on Sunday.
The statement read, “Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 48-year-old Paris, France-bound businessman, Emmanuel Okechuku Orjinze, for ingesting 111 wraps of cocaine, which he excreted after days of observation in the agency’s custody following his arrest at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja.
“Okechukwu, who also claims he is a professional footballer in Europe, was arrested on Tuesday, May 21 during the outward clearance of Airfrance flight AF 878 from Abuja to Paris, France.
“After a body scan confirmed he ingested illicit drugs, he was taken into custody where he excreted a total of 111 pellets of cocaine that weighed 1.603 kilograms over a period of three days. The suspect claimed he does business in the maritime sector while still scouting for any European football club to engage him. ”
In a related development, NDLEA officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, have dismantled a drug trafficking syndicate, arresting four members and seizing 8kg of methamphetamine and 7.60kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from South Africa.
Additionally, a freight agent, Sonubi Abiodun, was arrested for attempting to export eight parcels of cocaine concealed in paint buckets to the United Kingdom.
NDLEA operatives also arrested suspects producing and distributing skuchies, a mixture of black currant and illicit drugs, in Lagos, recovering 2,480 litres of the psychoactive substance.
In other raids, five suspects were arrested in Abuja with 95.01kg of cannabis and different quantities of opioids, while a physically challenged notorious drug dealer, Zekere Sufianu, was arrested in Auchi town, Edo State, with 751 grams of Loud, 178 grams of tramadol, and pills of swinol.
