A drug kingpin wanted for attempts to ship illicit drug consignments to the United Kingdom tops the list of arrests made by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency through interdiction operations that led to the seizure of four tons of illicit substances in the past week.
The agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, disclosed that the suspect, Obiorah Chigozie, had been on the NDLEA’s wanted list since September 15, 2023, when a consignment of 1.500kg skunk concealed in flour going to London was intercepted at the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc export shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos, and his freight agent, Nworah Adaugo, arrested.
“Convinced that the 1.500kg consignment had sailed through, Obiorah walked into the agency’s dragnet on Thursday, September 28, when he brought another tranche of 2.00kg concealed in cartons to the airport for shipment to the UK. In his interview, Obiorah claimed he was into shoe sales in Lagos before venturing into the illicit drug business,” Babafemi said.
Meanwhile, Babafemi added that NDLEA operatives attached to the Federal Capital Territory Command, on Friday, September 29, intercepted a container truck with number plate BD G41 XM coming from Lagos to Kano at the Gwagwalada area of the FCT.
About 1,188Kg of skunk loaded at Owo, Ondo State and hidden under cartons of toothpaste were recovered from the truck while its driver, Amafan Fattison, 28, was arrested.
In the same vein, he said NDLEA officers in Bayelsa State on Wednesday, September 27, seized 432kg of the same substance from an abandoned J5 bus along Saipem Road, Opolo, Yenagoa.
The vehicle was recovered from the scene for further investigation.
Babafemi added, “In Kano, a septuagenarian, Ado Mai Unguwa, 70, was arrested on Saturday, September 30 with 143.2kg of skunk in the Dindere village, Tofa LGA, while operatives in Enugu on the same day recovered 110.6kg of same substance from a locked-up shop at the Aria New Market.
“Operatives in Lagos also on Saturday, September 30, stormed the notorious Idi-Oro drug enclave in Mushin where they seized 212.5kg of cannabis sativa belonging to a wanted drug lord.
“This is even as NDLEA officers in Kwara State recovered 104kg of skunk from a Toyota Camry car in the Offa area of the state, while a Chadian, Mohammed Ibrahim, 25, was nabbed at Mafa checkpoint, Borno State with 11.8kg of same substance on Monday, September 25,”
