By Chimezie Godfrey
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly returned to the drug trade after serving a five-year jail term, this time disguising himself as a herbal tea businessman.
The 34-year-old suspect, identified as Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was arrested in a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, in the Ojo area of Lagos, on Friday, September 4.
The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying Ebubechukwu was tracked following the interception of 1.2kg of cocaine concealed in phone chargers and destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on July 31.
According to Babafemi, the suspect admitted during interrogation that he masterminded some illicit drug shipments in the past and discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that the latest consignment had been intercepted.
Further investigation, he said, revealed that Ebubechukwu had previously been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, in 2011 after ingesting 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria.
He was prosecuted and sentenced to five years in prison before subsequently changing his name and allegedly returning to the illicit drug business.
A search of his residence in Ejigbo, Lagos, yielded phone chargers similar to those used to conceal the intercepted cocaine, with their internal components removed to create space for the drugs.
Babafemi said the arrest formed part of a coordinated nationwide crackdown that also led to the interception of a 20,000-litre fuel tanker fitted with a concealed compartment containing 2,145kg of cannabis, as well as the recovery of hundreds of thousands of opioid tablets and large consignments of cannabis and methamphetamine across nine states.
At the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, valued at over N1.1 billion, concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment from Pakistan.
Another 57.80kg of Loud, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis valued at over N173 million in street value, was recovered from cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore.
The shipment had remained unclaimed for weeks before NDLEA, Customs and other security agencies conducted a joint examination on September 3.
In Ondo State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker marked MKA 960 XC along the Akoko/Lokoja Expressway on September 4 after its driver allegedly refused to stop.
Babafemi said the driver later abandoned the tanker at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled into the bush.
A search of the vehicle uncovered a concealed compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg, alongside its legitimate fuel cargo reportedly destined for Jos, Plateau State.
At Tincan Port, Lagos, NDLEA operatives also intercepted another 598.08kg, comprising 890 packets, of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies in a 40-foot container on September 2.
The agency said the consignment was linked to three suspects already in custody following the earlier seizure of 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies.
In Adamawa State, operatives recovered 864,000 opioid pills, particularly tramadol, from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect, Patrick KC Frank, whose Honda Civic allegedly rammed an NDLEA patrol vehicle before he escaped.
Another suspect, 35-year-old Calistus Ebubechukwu, described by the agency as a major methamphetamine supplier from Lagos to the Mubi and Michika axis, was arrested in Michika with 2kg of methamphetamine.
In Lagos, the agency recovered 2,386.9kg of cannabis, 350 grammes of cocaine, more than 100kg of assorted grades of tramadol, 9.7 litres of codeine syrup and 4kg of rohypnol at Gbaji.
Two suspects, Damilare Francis and Emeh Emmanuel, were also arrested at Agbara with 720kg of cannabis.
Three other suspects were arrested along the Okene/Lokoja Highway in Kogi State with 636kg of cannabis concealed in chicken manure aboard a bus travelling from Owo, Ondo State, to Jos, Plateau State.
They were identified as Saidu Mustapha, 35; Zaharadeen Salisu, 29; and AbdulSalam Abdullahi, 25.
In Taraba State, 58-year-old Kelechi Unachukwu was arrested along Zaki-Biam Road in Wukari Local Government Area with more than 109kg of assorted controlled substances, including tramadol, diazepam, pentazocine, phenobarbital, exol-5, nitrazepam, bromazepam and pregabalin.
The drugs were allegedly being transported in his Toyota Corolla from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Yola, Adamawa State.
In Kaduna, operatives intercepted a truck loaded with cement bags along the Zaria-Kano Expressway and recovered 1,179kg of skunk.
The agency also arrested 25-year-old Hamza Dahiru in Bauchi in a follow-up operation linked to the seizure of 322.5kg of cannabis at Deba town in Gombe State.
In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives uncovered and destroyed a four-hectare cannabis farm in Efon-Alaaye forest, arresting Chuks Alex, 50, and Asafa Adekunle, 35, and recovering 117kg of already-harvested skunk.
In Enugu State, 20-year-old Obinna David was arrested at Ugbema Junction with 40,590 capsules of tramadol.
Babafemi said the agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities across the country.
He quoted the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), as commending officers and men of the various commands and formations involved in the operations.
Marwa urged them to sustain what he described as the agency’s balanced approach to drug control, stressing that traffickers who attempted to evade detection by adopting new identities or hiding behind legitimate businesses would continue to be tracked down.
“Traffickers who believe they can reinvent themselves under new identities or legitimate business fronts will continue to be tracked down,” Marwa said.
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