Drug control Agency arrests 2 Pakistani businessmen for cocaine trafficking

Operatives of Nigeria’s Anti-narcotic Agency, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have arrested two Pakistani businessmen at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos, with 8 kilograms of cocaine concealed in a public address system while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Lahole, Pakistan via Doha.

The two suspects: Asif Muhammed, 45 and Hussain Naveed, 57, who hold Nigerian residence permits suspected to be fake, are frequent travelers to Nigeria under the guise of doing textile business.

A press statement by the agency’s spokesperson, Mr Femi BabaFemi, said the suspects were arrested on Saturday 5th November at the Lagos airport barely a week after they came to Nigeria.

The statement also said that operatives at the SAHCO import shed of the airport on Friday, 4th November seized 13 cartons of Tramadol 225mg and 200mg imported from Karachi, Pakistan.

Meanwhile, two businessmen who have been on the run for months over their involvement in drug trafficking have been arrested by anti-narcotic officers assigned to track them.

Nnebo Ikechukwu Christopher who has been wanted for his role in the importation of 40 cartons containing 346,800 pills of Cocodamol, a brand of paracetamol with Codeine, seized at the cargo wing of the MMIA local airport since March 2022, was arrested on Thursday 3rd November.

In the same vein, operatives on the trail of an automobile parts dealer, Omeje Oliver (AKA David Mark) since April eventually arrested him on Monday 31st October in Enugu where he fled to after abandoning his business at Aspanda Trade Fair Complex IN Lagos state.

In Katsina state, “operatives on patrol at Malumfashi-Zaria road, arrested a blind man, Bukar Haruna, 52, and his son Saka Haruna, 30 while heading to Niger republic with 20.5kg cannabis and 10 grams of exol-5.”

Also, about 2, 685.5kgs of cannabis were recovered in four different operations conducted in parts of Edo state in the last week.

In Mubi area of Adamawa state, “operatives on Tuesday 1st Nov. intercepted a Toyota Corolla car transporting 9,600 pills of tramadol.  

“A follow-up operation later led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Mamuda Ramadan, (A.K.A Muller), while another suspect, Alhassan Muhammed, was arrested on Sunday 30th October along Abuja-Kaduna express road, with 136,000 pills of tramadol concealed inside his car’s spare tyre.”

While commending the officers and men of the affected commands of the Agency for the successful operations in the past week, the Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), urged them and their counterparts across the country not to rest on their oars until all drug syndicates operating in Nigeria are completely dismantled and the last gram of illicit substance taken out of the streets.