[b]A 29-year old lady, Miss Blessing Aghimieh has been arrested by operatives of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja with substances suspected to be cocaine concealed in her anal cavity.
Female operatives of the NDLEA at the airport assisted Blessing to excrete wraps of cocaine neatly sealed in water-proof bags from her body shortly after she was arrested.
Apart from the yet to be quantified amount of cocaine found in the suspects anal cavity, our correspondent leant further that Blessing had also ingested 68 wraps of the same narcotic substance in her stomach.
She was to board a KLM flight bound for Italy before security agents arrested her.
NDLEA commander at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, Alhaji Hamisu Lawal, who confirmed the arrest said the agency had recovered 35, 37 kilograms of cocaine from 29 suspects between January and June this year.
He put the street value of the cocaine intercepted at over N389 million, adding that 12 of the suspects have been charged to court while others are serving various jail terms.
“Drug suspects are becoming more desperate as they continue to adopt various means of smuggling illicit drugs in and out of the country. On our part (the NDLEA), we shall continue to intercept and prosecute them. So far, we have beefed up security at this airport. I assure you that with the measures we have put in place, nobody can successfully smuggle any quantity of drugs through this airport. They cannot penetrate the security network we have put in place,” Lawal added.
In a related development, a 57-year-old grandmother has also being arrested by narcotic operatives at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos with three kilograms of cocaine that she claimed was baby food that.
The suspect, Mrs Adeleke Abisola Mariam was arrested when she was about boarding a British Airways flight to London.
When Mrs Adeleke was intercepted by NDLEA operatives, she claimed that the substance was given to her by a baron who promised to pay her £4,000.
“I used to have a shop where I sell women shoes, bags and children clothes at Tejuosho Market in Lagos before I lost everything to a fire incident in 2007. I tried to establish my business at Oshodi Market but we were displaced by the government. When I could no longer afford my rent in Lagos, I moved to Ife to join my mother. I have never done drug business in my life but I was pushed to the wall.
“A man that promised to help me lured me into the illicit drug business. We met twice at a popular eatery at Gbagada area of Lagos before the deal was sealed. He used to pay my transport and give me feeding money each time I came to Lagos from Ife to see him.
“On that Saturday, he gave me a bag that he said contained one kilogram of cocaine. He kept it inside garri. He did not even tell me that it was up to three kilograms. The agreement was one kilogram and my fee is £4, 000,” Mariam stated.
Similarly, a 35 year-old trader, Felicia Ajayi who resides at Ijebu-Ife in Ogun State was arrested at the Lagos airport on her way to Bombay, India with 1. 849 kg of cocaine packed in black polythene bags.
NDLEA operatives at the airport also nabbed one Okafor Churchill, an Onitsha based trader with Indian hemp while trying to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to Guangzhou, China. The suspect said he was tempted to carry the drugs because of the high profit margin.
“I bought the cannabis for N25, 000 in Onitsha. I concealed it myself. My intention was to sell it in China and use the money to buy clothes.[/b]