NDLEA Nabs Human Trafficker For Recruiting Orphan To Export Drug To Dubai

The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled an attempt by an alleged human trafficker, Mathew Bassey, to export illicit drug to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos State.
Bassey was arrested by the NDLEA operatives after inserting the illicit drug in the luggage of an orphan, Ms. Peter Gift Eno, who was recruited for a phantom job in UAE.
The 29-year-old man, who hails from Oron Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, was arrested, on Wednesday, July 6, following the interception of Eno at the departure hall of the Lagos airport.
This was made known in a statement made available to newsmen, yesterday, by the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi.
Babafemi stated that when Eno’s luggage was searched, 50 parcels of cannabis (2.80kg) concealed in food items were discovered, while there were discrepancies between the age she declared and the date of birth on her international passport.
“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 showed that the victim, who hails from the same Oron LGA of Akwa Ibom State like Bassey, recently lost her mother and as a result, 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,” the NDLEA spokesman noted.
Similarly, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a drug trafficker, Aloysius Ajuruchukwu Onyekwe, popularly known as Kelvin, who allegedly attempted to travel by road to Algeria through Sokoto State with ingested 47 wraps of cocaine in his stomach.
This was disclosed in a statement made available to newsmen, yesterday, by NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi.
Babafemi stated that Onyekwe was arrested in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital following intelligence shared by the Department of State Services (DSS).
According to him, the 26-year-old man, who hails from Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State, was arrested on Sunday, July 3, at Ojo Park in Ibadan where he went to board a vehicle enroute Sokoto to Algeria.
The NDLEA spokesperson noted that Onyekwe was travelling 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,” he disclosed.
Babafemi added that no fewer than 1,900 tablets of Tramadol 225mg were seized from a drug dealer, Mustapha Ijabula, 22, who was arrested in a Yola-bound commercial vehicle stopped for routine search along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
He stated that the suspect hails from the Mubi area of Adamawa State.
“In Akwa Ibom State, a trans-border trafficker, Fonkou Dassi, 31, was on Friday, July 8, arrested with 6,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg weighing 3kg by officers of Marine Unit of the agency when a commercial boat he boarded was intercepted and searched on his way to Cameroon. The suspect concealed the recovered drugs inside Indomie noodles cartoon,” he noted.
Babafemi further stated that a wanted drug dealer, Uduak Edidiong Samuel, aged 29, was arrested on Tuesday, July 5, after attending a court proceeding where his wife was undergoing trial for another drug case.
“The suspect had abandoned a cannabis sativa exhibit weighing 9kg when his house was searched on June 27, and has been on the run since then. During his arrest on Tuesday, Uduak was still found in possession of a wrap of skunk.
“In Edo State, a notorious drug dealer, Beauty Dauda, 27, has been arrested with various quantities of Meth, heroin, cannabis and crack cocaine in a densely populated slum along Lagos bypass, Benin City.
“She was arrested on Wednesday, July 6, after NDLEA operatives were able to break through the ring of protection often provided her by hoodlums and touts in the area,” the anti-narcotic agency spokesman added.
Speaking, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the anti-drug officers for staying vigilant and proactive in their areas of responsibility.
Marwa further urged them and their colleagues across the country not to rest on their oars