A 38-year-old businessman, Philip Tunde, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with 4.80kg of c+c@ine allegedly concealed in the soles of shoes and the railings of travelling bags at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The NDLEA said Tunde was arrested on September 27 at the joint screening point of Terminal 2 while preparing to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy.
A search of his luggage allegedly led to the recovery of 16 parcels of c+c@ine hidden in eight pairs of trainers and canvas shoes, while another 195 wraps were reportedly concealed in the railings of four travelling bags.
During interrogation, Tunde allegedly told NDLEA operatives that he paid N16 million in cash for the c+c@ine found in the shoes, while the consignment hidden in the bags was meant to be delivered to his partner in Italy.
He reportedly said he raised the money from compensation received after losing the tips of two fingers in an injury sustained while working at a plastic manufacturing company in Italy.
The agency also announced major dr¥g seizures at ports in Lagos and Rivers, including more than 1.2 tonnes of Canadian L+ud worth over N3.8 billion at Tincan Island Port, 124kg of Thai L+ud at Apapa Port and 109,600 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup at Onne Port.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives also recovered 209,000 tr+madol tablets from an unoccupied compound in Ago Palace and arrested a 23-year-old suspect after allegedly recovering C+l+rado cann@bis and meth@mphet@mine.
The agency said its commands also made arrests and seizures in several other states, including Osun, Plateau, Kogi and Edo.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain intelligence-driven efforts against dr¥g tr@fficking networks.
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