A soon to wed man, Elechi Adendu Kingsley, has been arrested for attempting to smuggle cocaine into the country from Brazil.
Elechi, 39 was arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Special Area Command, Abuja.
The agency said the suspect confessed to the crime, saying he was promised N3 million if he was successful, preparatory to his wedding in January 2021.
He was arrested with a bag containing cellophane bags containing the substance during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airline flight Et 911, according to Principal Staff Officer, Public Affairs, of the agency, Jonah Achema.
Achema, in a statement on Wednesday, said Kingsley, an indigene of Umulolo Local Government Area of Imo State, who has been living in Brazil for the past 13 years said he had no one to blame for his involvement.
“I am an adult and I am fully aware of what I was going into. I agree that somebody gave it to me but I offered to carry it,” Kingsley was quoted as saying.
Also arrested was a 23 year old Brazilian, Da Silva Mailson Mario, for carrying a suitcase containing the substance during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airline ET 911 which originated from Brazil en-route Addis Ababa to Abuja.
Achema said Mario who spoke through an interpreter decided to be silent on all questions put to him. He was only inquisitive about the jail terms his alleged offence may attract in Nigeria.
The agency’s spokesman said the arrest of the duo in two separate operations uncovered two new methods drug traffickers adopt to evade the prying eyes of law enforcement personnel.
He said 14.4 kilograms of cocaine were seized from both of them.
The statement reads, “In the first operation, the Command intercepted a consignment of four packets of chocolate sweets of white substances which tested positive to Cocaine weighing 7.2 kilograms while in the second operation it uncovered 12 parcels of cellophane wrappers with whitish substances which also tested positive to Cocaine weighing another 7.2 kilograms.
“The first operation involved Da Silva Mailson Mario, a Brazilian aged 23 who was arrested with a suit case containing the packets of the chocolate sweet during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airline ET 911 which originated from Brazil en-route Addis Ababa to Abuja. The second operation involved Elechi Adendu Kingsley, a Nigerian aged 39 who was arrested with a bag containing cellophane bags during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airline flight Et 911.”
Commander of NDLEA Abuja Airport Command, Kabir Sani Tsakuwa, said there is no underestimating the imagination of drug merchants.
“What is expected of us is not only to counter their devices but to think ahead of them. As we can see, any step they take, we are many steps ahead, hence the results we are seeing. I wish to promise them more frustration,” Tsakuwa said.
