The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced the arrest of Mr. Chukwuemeka Clement, a 67-year-old drug trafficker, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja. Clement had ingested 100 wraps of cocaine. Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media & Advocacy at NDLEA, revealed in a statement on Sunday that Clement admitted to engaging in this illegal activity in order to amass sufficient funds for marrying a new wife and beginning a new life, following 30 years spent in Brazil, Ethiopia, and Thailand.
The NDLEA spokesperson reported that Mr. Clement was apprehended the previous Tuesday during the screening of passengers arriving on Ethiopian Airlines flight 951 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He underwent a body scan that detected numerous pellets in his stomach. While under observation, he expelled a total of 100 cocaine wraps weighing 2.195 kg in four separate excretions.
In his statement, he revealed that he had spent three decades in Brazil, Ethiopia, and Thailand. Although he was previously married, he lost his wife and had no children. He explained that this motivated him to enter the drug trade, aiming to accumulate enough money to wed a new spouse and start anew,” Babafemi explained.
Additionally, on the same day, NDLEA operatives at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) in Kano apprehended a 45-year-old woman named Bilkisu Mohammed Bello as she was preparing to board a Saudi Airlines flight to Saudi Arabia.
During the interview, she admitted to having swallowed pellets of cocaine before her flight and disclosed that these pellets were stored in a residence located in the Farawa area of Kano. She then guided NDLEA officers to the said house, where they recovered 52 wraps of the illegal substance, totaling 767 grams in weight.