MADUABUCHI NMERIBEH/Kano
One of the two suspects arrested at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport for alleged cocaine smuggling nearly died after a wrap of ingested drug burst in his intestine.
The suspect,David Ikechukwu, from Orlu in Imo state, was saved by medical doctors in a Kano hospital.
Mr. Ambrose Umoru, NDLEA Commander at the airport who disclosed this, warned on the health implication of consuming illicit drugs, adding that NDLEA at MAKIA will not condone the activities of drug peddlers.
He told journalists on Tuesday that Ikechukwu, 32, and Patrick Otaka, 48, entered Nigeria aboard Ethiopian Airline with flight No. ET 911. Both men tried to bring in 2.7kg of cocaine, worth N15 million. They were caught by the scanning machine at the airport.
He said they flew from Nairobi enroute Addis Ababa and finally landed in Kano where they were arrested. Ikechukwu was nabbed with 60 ingested wraps of suspected cocaine weighing 1.250kg, while Otaka who hails from Abriba in Abia state ingested 72 wraps of substances suspected to be cocaine with a total weight of 1.450kg.
Otaka who admitted the crime, said he was forced into it as a result of frustration and poverty.
“The two suspects had separately boarded Ethiopian Airline flight in Nairobi, Kenya and headed to deliver the drugs in Nigeria. The two suspects had agreed to traffic in drugs so as to raise money to revitalize their dwindling businesses and take care of their respective families as they professed to be bread winners,” Mr. Umoru noted.
The NDLEA boss, however, added that luck ran out on them, “as the collaboration with our narcotics International Intelligence Network yielded the desired result. The two suspects were promptly arrested on arrival at the Arrival Hall of MAKIA.
“Upon subjecting them to body scanner, it was discovered that they ingested a total of 132 wraps of substances suspected to be cocaine. Investigation into the case is ongoing and they will be charged to court as soon as possible.”