By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A 29-year-old South African has been arrested by Nigerian security forces while attempting to export 2.6 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in his luggage to the Middle East.
Erasmus Jean Pierre was arrested on Wednesday at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), from where he attempted to move the Illicit items.
His arrest came during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 404 from Abuja to the Middle East via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
NDLEA in a statement said a thorough search of the suspect’s luggage led to the discovery of the whitish powdery illicit substance factory packed in different parts of the bag.
According to the agency, preliminary investigation reveals that the suspect arrived Lagos through Abidjan, Côte dIvoire on Saturday 19th August, came to Abuja on Tuesday 22nd August, and took possession of the brown bag containing the drug consignment on Wednesday 23rd August before heading to the airport for his flight out of Nigeria.
Similarly, officers of the agency in Gombe state, North East Nigeria on patrol along Darazo road on Monday 21st August recovered an abandoned Volkswagen Sharon vehicle marked GME 76 XD containing a total of 373,420 pills of opioids including tramadol and diazepam.
In the same vein, operatives in Ogun state on Wednesday 23rd August raided the home of a drug dealer, Ifeanyi Orji in Ibafo area of the state where 81,000 tablets of tramadol 225mg weighing 32.4kgs were recovered.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) while commending the efforts of the officers and men of the agency stationed at Abuja International Airport and other parts of the country for a job well done in the past week, charged them to intensify their drug supply reduction operations across Nigeria.
