A ‘couple’, Mr. Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and Mrs. Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum, purportedly going for medical treatment in India, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The ‘couple’ were arrested for allegedly ingesting 184 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.322 kilograms, with 100grams of the drug also concealed in the woman’s private part.
This was as the NDLEA intercepted heroin and meth consignments concealed in beads, soap bars, MP3 player going to New Zealand, Greece, Hong Kong.
NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, made the disclosures in a press release, on Sunday.
The fake ‘couple’ were intercepted at the Screening Point 1, Terminal 1 of the international wing of the Lagos Airport, last Tuesday, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to India.
“Though their travel documents show consistency in their names and depict them as a ‘couple’, an NDLEA officer however decided to subject them to body scan.
“The scan confirmed they both ingested drugs as a result of which they were later placed on excretion observation at the agency’s facility,” it was stated.
The travel documents of the ‘couple’ identified the man as Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and the lady to be Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum.
However, preliminary investigation revealed that the intending passengers were not a ‘couple’ but obtained the travel documents in the same surname to beat security checks at the airport.
Babafemi further stated that the lady later gave her real name as Ngogbike Nkechi. He added: “During her interview, she confessed that she was recruited in her church in Aba, Abia State where she lives.
“The suspect, Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum (aka Ngogbike Nkechi), stated further that she is a divorcee; that Kingsley, with whom she was travelling, is not her husband but connected only for the purpose of the illicit drug business trip.
“She revealed that her arranged husband, Kingsley, brought the pellets of cocaine to her in her room to ingest in the hotel where they were both lodged in separate rooms the previous day, Monday, 31 July.
“After their arrest, a thorough search conducted on her led to the discovery of a big size wrap of cocaine that weighed 100 grams she inserted into her private part.
“She confessed that she was promised $5,000 upon successful delivery of the drug in India.
“In his own statement, Kingsley, who was into clothing business in Onitsha, Anambra State, claimed he was promised $2,000 after a successful delivery of the drug in India.
“A further search of the agency’s crime data base revealed that Kingsley also obtained his travel documents with fake identity for the trip.
“Indeed, it was established that he was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja on 19 March 2022 for ingesting 100 wraps of cocaine weighing 2.243kgs upon his arrival from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on board an Ethiopian 5airline flight.
“His travel documents then contained his real name: Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian.
He was arrested at the Abuja Airport on 19 March 2022, along with another suspect, Iro Elvis Uche who also ingested 65 wraps of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.376kgs.
Uwaezuoke was subsequently arraigned before Justice Zainab Abubakar of the Federal High Court Abuja with charge number: FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2022.
“He was eventually granted bail by the court, pending the conclusion of his trial.
“He is still on the court bail when he was arrested at the Lagos Airport for a similar offence on Tuesday, 1 August.
“Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi (aka Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian) excreted a total of 82 wraps of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.822kgs in five excretions.
“Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum (aka Ngogbike Nkechi) egested 101 wraps in four excretions with a big size wrap of the substance recovered from her private part, all weighing 1.50kgs,” it was stated in the release.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), attached to courier companies in Lagos have intercepted various quantities of dextromethorphan.
The hard drug, mixed with heroin; methamphetamine; dimethyl sulfone and cannabis, was concealed in different objects going to Europe.
272 grams of dextromethorphan, mixed with heroin going to Greece, were recovered from white neck beads.
“665 grams of cannabis, being shipped to Hong Kong, were hidden in bars of Dudu Osun black bathing soap.
“261 grams of dimethyl sulfone, going to New Zealand, were hidden in reels of weaving threads.
“1.5kgs of methamphetamine, also going to New Zealand, were neatly packed in an MP3 player after all the parts were removed and the substance stuffed as replacement,” it was further stated.
A woman and four men -Ladi Peter (47); Umar Salisu (38); Ahmed Naheeb (36); Ibrahim Umar (42), and Musa Suleman (43), were arrested in Kano State.
The five of them were arrested in connection with 977.7 kilograms of cannabis sativa seized from them by NDLEA operatives along Zaria-Kano Road, Kwanar Dangora, last Monday and Friday, respectively.
In the same vein, 2,445 kilograms of cannabis sativa were recovered from the warehouse of a fleeing suspect, Usman Nar, at Madinat, Jere Local Government Area, Borno State, last Saturday.
No fewer than 57,450 pills of tramadol, rohypnol and exol-5 as well as 4,082 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from a suspect, Joseph Usman.
Usman was caught in a commercial bus coming from Onitsha, Anambra State to Abuja along Abaji-Abuja Highway, last Friday.
Reacting to the arrests and seizures, Chairman/CEO of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) commended the officers and men of MMIA, Kano, FCT and Borno commands.
He also applauded the NDLEA operatives at DOGI for their diligence, vigilance and professionalism in the discharge of their responsibilities.
Marwa charged them and their compatriots across the country not to rest on their oars, Babafemi added in the release.
