An ex-footballer, Okafor Emmanuel Junior, was arrested, last Monday, by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The ex-footballer, arrested on arrival from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight, was caught with 1.40kg crack cocaine concealed in his bags.
Anti-narcotic officers discovered that the 33-year-old indigene of Arochukwu Local Government Area, Abia State concealed the illicit substance in the handles of his bags and padded the top edges of same with the Class A drug.
Details of the arrest of the former footballer was contained in a press release by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
During preliminary interview, Okafor disclosed that he was an ex-footballer with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu FC.
The ex-footballer said he played for the football club for four seasons before leaving for Sri Lanka in 2014.
The ex-footballer further stated that he moved to Brazil from Sri Lanka after playing for two seasons but could not advance his football career in Brazil, due lack of official documents.
In the same vein, another Brazilian returnee, Ibeh Chinedu Damian, was arrested same day upon his arrival at the Lagos Airport from Sao Paulo, Brazil via an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
Ibeh, who hails from Ahiazu, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, was found to have concealed 3.20kg black cocaine, popularly known as Lucci, in false bottoms of his two bags.
In his statement, he said he was to be paid three million, one hundred thousand naira (N3,100,000) on successful delivery of the drug in Nigeria.
In another development, NDLEA operatives thwarted an attempt by a 32-year-old businesswoman, Mrs. Pamela Odin, to traffic 2.150kg tablets of rohypnol through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, (NAIA), Abuja to Istanbul, Turkey.
The mother of one was arrested on Friday 23 September while attempting to board a Turkish Airline flight with the drug concealed inside pepper and packed among foodstuff.
The indigene of Afiesere Village, Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State said she operates a restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey but came to Nigeria to see her relatives and buy food items for her restaurant business.
Meanwhile, two Malians, Mohammed Demoele (38) and Coulibaly Maliki (56), have been arrested by officers of the Marine Unit of NDLEA at Ebute Ero jetty in Lagos.
They were caught while attempting to export 34.2kg bottles of new psychoactive substance, Akuskura to Mali through Cotonou, Benin Republic.
In Taraba State, operatives of the anti-drug agency, on Thursday 29 September, intercepted 100 compressed blocks of Cannabis Sativa weighing 73.500kg, concealed inside animal feeds.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives in Ogun State, on 1 October, arrested a physically-challenged drug dealer, Abdulraham Mohammed, with 104kg of compressed cannabis sativa recovered from him.
Another suspect, Ms. Safiya Bello, was also arrested in the Shagamu Area of the state with 27kg of the psychotropic substance.
Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the officers and men of Seaports Operations, MMIA, Ogun, and Taraba Commands for their resilience.
He charged them and others across the country to intensify ongoing offensive action against drug cartels and traffickers wherever they may be located in any part of Nigeria.
