Spain-based businessman arrested for ingesting 93 pellets of heroin at Abuja airport

A 40-year-old businessman based in Spain, Sherif Egbo, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, for drug trafficking.

In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the suspect was arrested on October 14 after a body scanner revealed he had wraps of illicit drugs in his stomach.

He said the suspect was attempting to board an Air France flight to Paris, France.

Babafemi added that the suspect was subsequently placed under observation at the agency’s exhibit recovery room where he excreted 93 pellets of heroin weighing 2.222 kilograms.

“In his statement, the suspect claimed he works at a chicken hatchery farm in Madrid, Spain and also into drug trafficking business,” Babafemi said.

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In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) imports shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, (MMIA), Lagos, seized a consignment of 10 cartons containing 500,000 pills of tramadol, 225mg branded as tapentadol on Monday.

Babafemi said the cargo, which was shipped from India through Qatar Airways with air waybill number MAWB 319-01227236, was purported to be a transit cargo to Monrovia, Liberia.

“However, the lid was blown open through partnership and real time intelligence sharing mechanisms between NDLEA and its Liberian counterpart,” the statement reads.

The spokesperson said an attempt by one Ngene Chinecherem, an intending passenger to Oman on Qatar Airways, to export 11.100kgs of skunk and 600grams of tramadol was intercepted by the NDLEA operatives.

Babafemi said the drugs were concealed in foodstuffs and were to be exported through the Lagos airport, adding that the suspect was arrested and the illicit substances were seized.