The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Thursday in Lagos announced the arrest of a man, who claimed to have invested his life savings in a drug deal.
Mr Mitchell Ofoyeju, spokesman of the Agency, said in a statement that the suspect was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
According to Ofoyeju, the suspect, Unigwe Anthony Iwuchukwu, was apprehended for unlawfully being in possession of substances that have tested positive to methamphetamine, weighing 2.75 kg.
The statement said the substances were discovered in the suspect’s stomach by a scanning machine, while he was about to board a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam.
“The arrest of the 28-year-old suspect was made possible by the scanning machine. During observation, he excreted 2.750 kg of methamphetamine. He is currently being investigated.
“The drug suspect said he was tempted to indulge in the illegal business due to the expectation of high returns on his investment.
“The suspect said he went to Benin Republic in search of a business that could yield high profit, but was unfortunately introduced to drug trafficking.
“The suspect said his partners told him that he needed to give them a part of the capital, so as to be able to have a larger share of the profit. He then returned to Nigeria and sold all that he had, including landed property and was able to invest N5 million in the drug deal.
“He added that they told him that he could earn N20 million,” the statement said.
The anti-drug spokesman noted that the suspect was motivated by greed and the insatiable desire to be super rich, adding that N5 million was enough money to start a small and medium scale enterprise in Nigeria.
Also, the Kaduna State Command of the NDLEA said on Thursday that it had recorded a total seizure of 2.1 metric tonnes of illicit drugs worth N10 million.
The Assistant State Commandant of the Agency, Mrs Maryam Sani, said in Kaduna that the seizure was recorded between January and October.
Sani gave a breakdown of the seizures as two tonnes of Cannabis, 15.4grams of Cocaine, 2grams of Heroine and 66. 8grams of psychotropic substances.
The commandant said that 202 suspects were arrested in connection with the seizures.
According to her, the Agency has also destroyed two farms of cannabis in Zaria and Saminaka Local Government Areas as well as convicted 40 accused persons within the period under review.
“The Agency also rehabilitated and counselled 37 drug users while 18 are currently undergoing rehabilitation at the rehabilitation centre in Zaria.’’
Sani said that NDLEA housed displaced persons in Zaria and Kafanchan during the April general election crisis in the state.
According to her, the Agency has also impounded five vehicles used to transport drugs from the southern part of the county within the same period.
The commandant said that the agency recently conducted a seminar for patent medicine dealers in Birnin Gwari and Kujama on drug abuse as part of its public sensitisation programmes.
Sani said that “the agency is faced with the challenges of facilities for the rehabilitation of drug users and operational vehicles to carry out routine operations.”
She said that 60 additional staff had been recruited to beef up staff strength.
Sani urged members of the public to assist the NDLEA and other security agencies by reporting suspecting members of the public to rid the society of illicit drug use.