An attempt by one Okorie Cyprian Raymond to smuggle hard drugs into Nigeria has been foiled by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Command, Abuja.
Okorie was arrested during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airline flight 911 from Sao Paulo, Brazil en-route Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
According to NDLEA spokesman, Jonah Achema, the drug, which weighed 12.05 kilograms was carefully packed in drink sachets of pineapple and lemon flavor and concealed in a suit case.
Okorie had already claimed his luggage upon arrival and proceeded to NDLEA screening point where it was detected that one of his bags was stuffed with prohibited drugs suspected to be Cocaine.
“He claimed that the drug consignment was given to him to deliver in Nigeria by one Uche whom he met in Church in Brazil about three months ago through a friend. Okorie said Uche overheard him talk to his friend about his impending trip to Nigeria”.
The suspect said: “I actually did not have knowledge of what is in the bag. Oga Uche brought the suit case to me at the airport just an hour before flight take-off. This short interval did not give me the opportunity to scrutinize the bag”.
Kabir Sani Tsakuwa, NDLEA Commander, Abuja Airport, noted that “the 12.05 kilograms of Cocaine is one of the highest quantity seized by the Command in recent times.”
