Paul Mbadugha, a Vietnam-bound businessman, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
He was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, after testing positive to ingesting cocaine.
Mr Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, on Sunday disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.
He explained that the 54-year-old suspect, who later excreted 88 wraps of cocaine, was intercepted at the boarding gate of the Abuja airport on Aug. 12 during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam via Doha.
“After four days under excretion observation, Mbadugha egested a total of 88 wraps of the illicit drug with a gross weight of 1.710kg,” Babafemi said.
“In his statement, he claimed he’s a Lagos-based businessman and was given the cocaine pellets to swallow by a friend at Isolo area of the state for onward delivery in Vietnam for a fee of 2,000 dollars.”
Similarly, NDLEA operatives also intercepted a shipment of Loud at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos.
Babafemi described the drugs as a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 800g and was concealed in noodles going to Congo.
“A follow up operation at the Alaba International market, Ojo area of Lagos led to the arrest of the sender of the consignment, Nnamani Sunday Sunny, who deals in GSM handsets,”he said.
Meanwhile, a large consignment of Loud imported from Canada had been recovered by NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport.
Babafemi said that a suspect, Desalu Temitope, who arrived on board an Air France flight with six boxes was arrested by anti-narcotic officers during a joint examination by security agencies at the arrival hall.
He said: “A total of 65.80kg of the psychoactive substance were recovered from four of the six suitcases.
“In his statement, Desalu said he and an accomplice currently at large were promised 10,000 dollars upon successful delivery of the shipment in Lagos.”