The Nigerian National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Lagos, on Tuesday said it had arrested two housewives for trafficking substance suspected to be cocaine.They were China bound, via Qatar.
This was contained in a release issued by the agency and signed by its spokesperson, Mr Mitchel Ofoyeju
According to the release, the two women, aged 45 and 47, were allegedly found in possession of 2.635kg of cocaine at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos.
They were said to be attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to China.
The release further said that the women packed the cocaine in their underwear and also inserted some in their private parts.
“The arrest has prevented the housewives from arrest and execution in China few weeks after the Indonesian Government executed some Nigerians for drug trafficking.
“The women, in their statements, said that they were involved in smuggling cocaine because they were abandoned by their husbands,” the statement said.
Mr Hamza Umar, NDLEA Commander at the Lagos Airport, was quoted in the statement as describing the suspects as “desperate traffickers”.
“These women are curiously desperate for ingesting drugs, packing some on their bodies and inserting in their vagina.
“The first suspect, Alaka Deburah, 47, was found with 1.180kg of cocaine. She inserted 260 grammes of cocaine in her private part and ingested 60 wraps weighing 920 grammes.
“The second suspect, Priscilla Chukwujekwu, 45, was caught with 1.455kg of cocaine.
“She packed 59 wraps on her body, inserted one parcel in her vagina weighing 1.285kg and ingested 10 wraps weighing 170 grammes,” Umar said.
The statement also quoted the Chairman of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, as describing the action of the women as disgraceful.
“It is good that the drugs were detected here by our officials because China has capital punishment for drug trafficking.
“This arrest has saved them from death and the country from embarrassment.
“Their action is utterly disgraceful because as mothers, they ought to show good example for their children to emulate,” the statement quoted him as saying.