What could have prompted a 38
year old pregnant woman to
throw caution to the winds
risking the life of the innocent
fetus in her womb and own life
too? The middle aged woman
swallowed an astonishing 51
wraps of cocaine for inexcusable
reason of poverty but could be
more or less described as
‘suicide’ mission.
The Oduma-Enugu state born
woman who resides in Brazil
gave her name as Mbechi
Obiageli Susan. She was arrested
at the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport, Abuja, on
her way from Sao Paulo, Brazil, by
operatives of the National Drug
Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA,
with the aid of a scanning
machine.
Mbechi claimed to be three
months pregnant and during the
process of profiling, she excreted
51 pellets of cocaine weighing
900 grammes.
Just like the pleads of others who
were caught in the act of drugs
trafficking, she was not an
exemption as she also pleaded
poverty as the instigator of her
callous action but the chairman
of the anti-narcotic agency,
Ahmadu Giade, was quick to
disagree with her claims on the
ground that there were several
other credible means of earning
a living than soiling her hands in
hard drugs..
He was quick to remind her that,
“Poverty is far from an excuse for
anybody to take to illicit drug
trafficking. There are many other
ways of making a living without
breaching the law. Apart from
offending the law, did she think
about the danger inherent in
ingesting hard drugs as a
pregnant woman? This is why
we shall continue to do our best
to provide enabling environment
to fight this menace that is fast
assuming frightening
dimension.”
While the case of Susan was still
being analyzed, two other
women, Ms. Obiakor Maryann
Okwudili and Ms. Anene Blessing
Iruoma allegedly walked into the
agency’s dragnet also at the
same airport with a much more
larger quantity of hard drugs
which later tested for
Methamphetamine smartly
concealed in their customized
panties, brassieres and hair wigs.
Though the women tried to
outwit NDLEA operatives, they
were, however, betrayed by their
body frisk; and that attracted the
attention of airport security
officials who suspected that
there must be more to their
gorgeous looks. Upon profiling
too, the duo who hail from
Nando and Igbariam in Anambra
State respectively were
discovered to have concealed the
illicit drugs in their underwear
and hair wigs.
They were both on their way to
Malaysia via Cairo and attempted
to board an Egypt airline flight.
They too blamed poverty for their
woes. The drugs weighed
4.5kgs.
Commenting on the arrest, Abuja
airport commander of NDLEA, Mr.
Hamisu Lawan, said he was
shocked at the escalating rate of
women’s involvement in
criminality especially illicit drug
trafficking. Though he
commended his men for their
exceptional performance, he also
expressed gratitude to airport
security officials for their
alertness and collaboration.
“The drugs were detected during
routine screening of passengers.
The suspects are helping narcotic
officials in our investigation. I
commend the level of
cooperation among security
agencies at the airport. I also
thank the management of the
Federal Airport Authority of
Nigeria, FAAN, for their
significant role in these arrests.
“Miss Anene Blessing hails from
Igbariam in Anambra State with
passport number A03660604.
She was found to be wearing a
customized brassier, pants and
hair wig all stuffed with
substances which tested positive
for methamphetamine weighing
1.7kg. Ms Obiakor Maryann
Okwudili, age 34, who hails from
Nando in Anambra State with
passport number A01444553,
was apprehended on same flight
with Anene. She too concealed
1.90kg of methamphetamine in
under wears,” he revealed. -Daily Post