A 38-year-old suspected drug
trafficker, Ifeanyi Okafor, was on Thursday arrested at Muritala Mohammed
International Airport for concealing 2kg of cannabis in a bag of dried bitter
leaf, meant for export.
Okafor was apprehended alongside
another suspect, Obianwo Okwuchukwu, who was caught with 1.700kg of
methamphetamine hidden in his luggage. While Okwuchukwu was caught during the
outward clearance of Arik Air passengers to Monrovia, the cannabis was
discovered during the search of goods meant for export via a Qatar flight.
The National Drug Law Enforcement
Agency Airport commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, confirmed the arrests.
He said, “Okwuchukwu was on his way
to Monrovia, Liberia while Okafor’s bag, containing dried bitter leaf, was
meant for export to Doha, Qatar.”
Both suspects said to be natives of
Anambra State have claimed ownership of the drugs.
A father of four, 53-year-old
Okwuchukwu told PUNCH Metro that he was lured into drug
trafficking by the monetary rewards.He said, “I have lived in Monrovia for the
past five years and worked in a cinema in order to sustain my family and me.
“My problem began when I lost all my
savings to the war in Sierra Leone. I have been living from hand to mouth. My
situation was so bad that I agreed to smuggle the drugs for $2,000.”
The 38-year-old Okafor claimed to
have lost $87,000 to fraudsters, an incident which pushed him into drug
trafficking.
He said, “I am an importer of baby
clothes. My business was going on fine until I lost $87,000 to fraudsters. In
fact, I am yet to recover from that unfortunate incident that reduced me to a
beggar. I was to be paid $1,400 to smuggle the cannabis into Doha, Qatar.”
NDLEA Chairman, Ahmadu Giade, said
stiffer penalties were effective strategies of drug control.
“Stiffer penalties remain one of the
effective ways of addressing the problem of drug trafficking in the country. If
a 53-year-old man knows that if caught with drugs, he will spend the next 15
years in jail, there will be some restraint,” Giade said.
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