The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended Simon Oguejiofor, a Thailand returnee, for attempting to smuggle 13.30 kilograms of heroin worth over N3.1 billion through Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi disclosed in a statement on Sunday that operatives also intercepted significant consignments of opioids, valued at over N22.7 billion, across three Lagos seaports.
Oguejiofor, a 29-year-old mechanical engineering graduate from Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Uli, Anambra State, was arrested on October 7.
He had arrived in Lagos from Thailand, where he had left on October 3 via a Qatar Airways flight with a layover in Doha.
After arriving in Lagos on October 5, Oguejiofor arranged for his luggage to be rerouted to Nigeria, attempting to avoid security checks.
NDLEA operatives intercepted him at the airport’s exit, discovering six backpacks concealed within two large suitcases. The heroin, sewn into the backpacks, weighed a total of 13.30 kilograms.
In his confession, Oguejiofor revealed that he was hired for $7,000 to deliver the drugs, with instructions to deliver two parcels in Lagos and four in Accra, Ghana.
In another development, the NDLEA intercepted 32,607,900 tramadol pills worth over N12.5 billion and 1.4 million bottles of codeine-based syrup valued at N10.2 billion at Lagos’ Lekki Deep Seaport, Apapa Seaport, and the Port Harcourt Port Complex in Rivers State.
These seizures, made between October 7 and October 11, involved thorough examinations by NDLEA agents, Nigeria Customs, and other security agencies.
Further arrests were also made in Anambra and Edo States. In Anambra, Okelue Chidera, 29, was apprehended on October 12 with 50,000 tramadol tablets in Onitsha.
In Edo, a raid at a cannabis transit point in Aviose led to the recovery of 70 bags (1,050kg) of cannabis, while another 110kg was seized in a separate raid in Ovia North East Local Government Area.
Monday Akele, 38, was arrested in connection with the latter.
