The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully detained two wanted leaders of transnational criminal organizations, while also capturing two additional individuals who ingested a combined total of 175 wraps of heroin.
This achievement follows weeks of intelligence-driven operations both within Nigeria and abroad.
According to a statement by NDLEA spokesperson Mr. Femi Babafemi in Abuja on Sunday, the apprehension of these suspected drug lords occurred in conjunction with the interception of cocaine and heroin consignments.
These drugs, concealed within the bodies of two traffickers destined for Paris, France, and Doha, Qatar, were seized by NDLEA officers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Furthermore, operatives at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, managed to detain Hakeem Salami on October 10. Salami is the ringleader of the “Tajudeen Babatunde Abioye Transnational Criminal Organization,” which deals in multiple narcotics, including Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine, and Ephedrine, trafficking them between Nigeria, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mozambique, and Europe.
Salami had fled to South Africa after one of his syndicate members, Suleiman Oba, was arrested at the Lagos airport on August 25 for attempting to export 25.10 kgs of ephedrine to South Africa.
Salami was eventually located and apprehended through collaboration with South African authorities and other intelligence sources. Some of his luxury vehicles were confiscated, and his residence in Surulere, Lagos, was sealed.
Other members of the cartel already in custody include Suleiman and Godwin Edet Mathew.
In a statement, Salami claimed to have previously engaged in the importation of building materials from China to Nigeria and had sold gold in South Africa before venturing into the illegal drug trade about two years ago.
Additionally, the head of another cartel, Ikechukwu Okafor (known as Jantu), and his wife, Ifeyinwa Okafor, were apprehended on October 5 when NDLEA operatives raided their hideout in the Okota area of Lagos. During the operation, 27.566 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a blue box and two sacks, intended for export to Europe and Asia, were seized.
Their Lexus RX350 with the registration ABJ 512 AY was also impounded during the operation. The arrests followed several weeks of intelligence gathering about the criminal network.
At the Abuja airport, on October 6, operatives arrested a suspected drug trafficker, Nwofor Ejiogu, 45, during the outward clearance of a Qatar Airways flight to Doha. After a body scan revealed he had ingested cocaine, he was placed under observation, during which he excreted 75 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.653 kgs.
At the time of his arrest, Nwofor offered to bribe an NDLEA officer with $3,000 in an attempt to secure his release.
On October 7, another trafficker, Nwufo Charles, 45, was arrested while attempting to board a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Paris, France via Frankfurt, Germany.
After being scanned and taken into a recovery room, he excreted 96 wraps of heroin he had ingested, with a total weight of 1.413 kgs.
