Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos and at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano have seized consignments of heroin and khat with a street value of over N10bn.
The spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, said on Sunday in Abuja that at the MMIA, Lagos, during cargo examination at SAHCO Import Shed, a freight agent had presented a cargo from South Africa with an Ethiopian Airline ET 3901 Airway Bill no: 071-40689003 for examination before NDLEA operatives attached to the beat.
According to him, the officers subsequently conducted a search of the cargo during which a suspected brownish substance was discovered concealed inside a red bag popularly called ‘Ghana-must-go’.
“During a preliminary interview of the suspect, it was gathered that another freight agent sub-contracted the clearing job to him and eventually six suspects have so far been arrested in follow up operations, while the substance had tested positive to heroin with a total weight of 24.05kg.
“Another consignment in the consolidated cargo has also proved to be methamphetamine with a weight of 1.25kg, bringing the total weight of illicit drugs seized in the cargo to 25.3kg.
“Though the cargo arrived the airport in the evening of 16 April, properly searched the following day, 17, follow up operations leading to a number of arrests lasted till the weekend,” Babafemi said.
He also quoted the Commander, MMIA Command of the agency, Ahmadu Garba, as saying that: “The heroin and methamphetamine consignments were tagged in different names to deceive our officers but we still uncovered them and neutralised their plot.”
In a similar development, the MAKIA Command of the agency in Kano seized a consignment meant for export to Manchester, the United Kingdom at its Cargo shed.
A sample of the suspected substance in the consignment was sent for laboratory analysis, the result of which came out positive to khat, weighing 36kg.
This thus bringing the total weight of illicit drugs seized at the two international airports to 61.3kg.
The Acting Commander, MAKIA Command of the agency, Mohammed Ajiya, said further investigations still ongoing to ascertain the true owners of the illegal consignment