NDLEA intercepts drugs in food flasks, snacks, fashion designer, others seized

• Agency raids Edo, Cross River forests, destroys over 17,000kg skunk, recovers banned items in Lagos, Delta, Kaduna

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted 12 large parcels of cocaine concealed in the false bottom of food flasks heading to the United Kingdom via a Virgin Atlantic Airline flight from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja, Lagos.

Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi, who made this known in a statement, said the consignment with a gross weight of 2.80 kilograms was intercepted last Thursday by NDLEA operatives attached to the export shed of the Lagos airport.

He said two cargo agents involved in the export - Ama Obinna Ufeim, 33, and Ogabi Monday Akorede, 39 - were arrested, adding that a 52-year-old freight and forwarding agent, Agoro Tajudeen Moninuola, the sender of the consignment, was arrested in a follow-up.

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In a similar operation on April 8, NDLEA officers at the import shed of the Lagos airport intercepted a consignment of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, with a gross weight of 2.90 kilograms concealed in snack food packs, which arrived from the United States aboard a Delta Airlines flight.

It stated that two cargo clearing agents - Animashaun Moshood Adetunji and Mercy Gabriel Oluwasegun - were initially arrested in connection with the seizure before the consignee, Saheed Adeshina Adegoke, a fashion designer, 29, was nabbed in a follow-up at 3 Oba Ogunji Road, Ogba, Lagos, on April 13.

The statement reads: “In Kaduna, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Kaduna-Zaria highway by Gwargwaje Zaria on Monday, April 13, intercepted a trailer conveying cement heading to Hadeja in Jigawa State.