Two suspects, Ugochukwu Nwafor and
Chidozie Okonkwo were recently arrested by law enforcement agents for
attempting to smuggle 2.880 kg of a substance believed to be cocaine out
of the country.
The duo were found to have ingested 175
wraps of the hard drug during the screening of outbound passengers on a
British Airways flight to London.
According to the commander of
the National Drug Law Emnforcement Agency at the MMIA, Mr. Hamza Umar,
while confirming the arrest, said the suspects were caught after an
alarm was triggered by the scanning machines.
“The suspects
tested positive to drug ingestion and were placed under observation.
Nwafor ingested 73 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.395kg while Okonkwo
ingested 102 wraps weighing 1.485kg. They were detected on the same
flight,” Hamza said.
Nwafor, 37, a phone dealer at the computer
village, Ikeja, who resides at Igando, said a friend lured him into the
business. “I used to be a successful businessman until I made a wrong
investment three years ago in which I lost over N3.5m in China. As a
result of the loss, I became indebted and was lured into drug
trafficking by a friend,” Nwafor confessed.
Okonkwo, who claimed
to have a Master’s degree in Innovative Management from the British
Institute of Technology and E-Commerce in London and resides in East
London blamed his lack of a job for his present predicament: “I was only
trying to make ends meet. I live in East London where I had my
post-graduate studies but joblessness turned me into another man. It was
a tough decision for me to smuggle drugs but I really needed the £5000 I
was offered. I feel bad that things have turned this way for me. It is
like a dream.”
Both suspects who are said to be cooperating with
narcotic investigators, would have been paid £4,000 (Nwafor) and £5,000
(Okonkwo), respectively had they successfully trafficked the drugs into
Britain.
Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade
attributed the involvement of a master’s degree holder in drug
trafficking to moral decadence. “Parents should inculcate good morals in
their children; I urge members of the public to eschew drug trafficking
by joining the anti-drug abuse and trafficking crusade. Arrangements
are in place for the suspects to be charged in line with the NDLEA Act,”
he said.
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