Freeman Ogbonna, India-bound passenger, vomits, excreted 80 wraps of cocaine at Lagos airport
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended a Delhi-bound passenger, Freeman Charles Ogbonna, at the screening point of Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos. Ogbonna was found to have ingested 80 wraps of cocaine.
Ogbonna, traveling with a Liberian international passport under the name Carr Bismark, was intercepted on Sunday, March 31, 2024, while attempting to board his flight to Delhi, India via Doha on Qatar Airways.
According to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, Ogbonna was subjected to a body scan, which indicated the ingestion of illicit drugs. Following this discovery, he was placed under observation in NDLEA custody, where he began to show signs of discomfort.
Babafemi explained, “Obviously choked by the volume of illicit drugs in his stomach and another substance taken to hold back excretion, the suspect soon began to retch before starting to vomit and excrete wraps of cocaine he ingested almost simultaneously.”
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In total, Ogbonna expelled 80 wraps of cocaine weighing 889 grams over a period of four days. He confessed that he had been recruited into drug trafficking by a relative and was promised a reward of N300,000 upon successful delivery of the drugs in India.
Additionally, NDLEA officers intercepted another drug mule, Imran Taofeek Olalekan, at Gate C departure of Terminal 1. Olalekan was traveling to Oman with check-in luggage and a backpack containing concealed drugs.
Upon searching his belongings, NDLEA operatives found a false bottom concealment of drugs in the check-in luggage and in the walls of the backpack. Olalekan disclosed that he was promised N1,500,000 for delivering the consignment in Oman, while his recruiter, Ishola Isiaka Olalekan, was to be paid N200,000.
During the investigation, charms were found on both Olalekan and his recruiter, allegedly obtained for protection against detection during the trip.
In separate operations, NDLEA operatives intercepted significant drug seizures in Lagos, Kano, and Ogun states. The agency also conducted War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaigns nationwide.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, commended the efforts of the agency’s commands and urged them to remain vigilant in combating drug trafficking.
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