The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended a 50-year-old businessman, Osuoha Christian Iheanacho, at Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA) in Enugu for ingesting 90 wraps of cocaine.
In a statement from Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy, it was reported that Osuoha was intercepted by agency operatives on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, during the inbound screening process for passengers arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. His capture followed months of intelligence gathering and surveillance.
Osuoha was placed under observation for excretion, during which he expelled 90 pellets of cocaine weighing a total of 2.019 kilograms over seven separate excretions.
Investigations revealed that the suspect, who runs a phone and accessories business in Lagos and Gabon, Central Africa, traveled by road from Gabon to Douala, Cameroon, before boarding a flight to Addis Ababa. He swallowed the cocaine pellets while in transit, intending to continue his journey to Enugu, with Lagos as his final destination.
To obscure his travel history, he deliberately complicated his route, unaware that he had been on the NDLEA watchlist for the prior three months. In his statement, Osuoha expressed desperation for the money from his illicit drug trade to salvage his struggling business.
