The operatives
of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a man, one Aguezeala
Bob Chidubem, 45, who claimed to be a customs officer while attempting to
smuggle drugs into China.
When he was
arrested, Chidubem claimed to be a serving customs officer at the Tin Can
Island Port, Lagos. Preliminary
investigation carried out by NDLEA agents revealed that he was an impersonator,
as the Tin Can Command of the Nigerian Customs Service confirmed to the Agency
that there was no officer with that name and service number.
He was arrested
along with Obi Onyeka Emmanuel, Obidiazor Stanley, Ezeocha Henry Chidi and Alor
Tochukwu Isaac.
NDLEA spokesman,
Mitchell Ofoyeju Ofoyeju said: “Chidubem was found to be a fake custom officer.
He claimed to be a 1993 graduate of Industrial Chemistry from University of
Port Harcourt. He hails from Imo State and conspired with Odidiazor Stanley to
finance the trip of Obi Onyeka Emmanuel to China with 1.175kg of heroin.”
The anti-drug
Agency also prevented the exportation of 34.605kg of cannabis and 1.175kg of
heroin to China.
The arrests and
seizures took place at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos
while other accomplices were apprehended during a follow-up operation. The drug
recovered from Chidubem and the four others weighed 35.78kg.
NDLEA commander
at the Lagos Airport, Hamza Umar explained how the command arrested the five
suspects with 35.78kg of illegal drugs.
Umar said: “We
arrested one Obi Onyeka Emmanuel with 1.175kg of heroin while attempting to
board Qatar Airline flight to China. Upon interrogation, Aguezeala Bob Chidubem
a fake custom officer and Obidiazor Stanley were apprehended for allegedly
sponsoring Obi Onyeka. Ezeocha Henry Chidi and Alor Tochukwu Isaac were also
caught with 11.430kg and 23.175kg of cannabis respectively on their way to
China.”
Emmanuel, 39, a
trader who sells Jeans at Mandilas, Lagos Island said he was promised 4,000
dollars to smuggle heroin to China.
Emmanuel said:
“I was given 100 wraps of heroin by Stanley to swallow. I was able to swallow
68 wraps because it is my first time. They also promised to pay me 4,000
dollars but unfortunately the drug was detected by the scanning machine. I got
involved in drug trafficking because I lost 10,000 dollars in my business. I
was desperate to recover my lost money.”
Chidi, 33, who
resides in Onitsha, was caught with 11.160kg of cannabis.
He was to board
a Kenya Airways flight to China when the drug was detected. His arrest took
place simultaneously with Alor Tochukwu Isaac who was to board Ethiopian
Airways with 23.175kg of cannabis to China.
Alor explained:
“Ezeocha Henry is my friend. We are both into cargo business because we send
goods for people. One of my customers brought three bags to me to take to
China. He told me that the bags contained foodstuff and gave me N22, 000.
“I blamed myself
for not searching the bags although this is not my first time of collecting
goods from him. What I did was based on trust but it ended this way. I took two
bags and gave one to Ezeocha Henry with N12, 000.”
Meanwhile,NDLEA
chairman, Ahmadu Giade said he was shocked over the arrest of the five men and
the fact that they were taking the drugs to China, barely days that two
Nigerians were executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking.
No comments:
Post a Comment