Drug baron caught with N8b cocaine in Lagos despite $24,500b bribe

OPERATIVES of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a suspect, Ejiofor Enwereaku, with 36 blocks of cocaine weighing 27.95km with a street value of over N8bn.

  Enwereaku was said to have been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Friday.

  The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday titled: ‘NDLEA intercepts N8bn cocaine, arrests drug kingpin at Lagos airport’.

  Babafemi described the suspect as the leader of a syndicate, which allegedly specialised in using unsuspecting travellers for trafficking cocaine to various countries.

  He added that operatives of the agency at the MMIA, based on intelligence, had on May 9 intercepted a bag that arrived at the airport from Gru, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian Airline flight with baggage tag number ET331199, which was disclaimed by an arriving passenger on the flight.

  He said the disclaimed bag was thereafter secured by the NDLEA operatives for investigation.

  The statement read in part, “On Sunday, May 9, 2021, a man came to the airport to make inquiries on how to get the disclaimed bag released. He was promptly arrested for investigation.

  “The disclaimed bag was opened in the presence of the arriving passenger and the man, who came to negotiate the release of the disputed bag.

  “When it was opened, it was found that the bag contained 36 blocks of cocaine weighing 27.95kg. A follow-up sting operation was carried out, which led to the arrest of Ejiofor Felix Enwereaku, the prime suspect, on Friday, May 14, upon his arrival from Addis Ababa onboard an Ethiopian Airline flight.

  “During preliminary interrogation after his arrest, he confessed to have been contracted by his Ethiopian associate, who is a notorious drug baron, to claim and push out the consignment in Lagos, Nigeria.

  “He further admitted to have paid $24,500 bribe in three tranches to compromise the NDLEA officers. The first was $10,000 delivered through his representative in Lagos and another $10,000 via his First Bank account, while the third tranche of $4,500 was paid at the point of his arrest.”

  The statement quoted the NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), as commending the MMIA Command of the agency on the intelligence-led operation, which took weeks of painstaking efforts in making sure that the kingpin was successfully arrested.