The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted a suspected drug trafficker, Goodluck Igbineweka Odeh, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, with two kilograms of heroin.
The substance, according to the agency, has a street value of N564m and was concealed in the lining of the false bottom of the suspect’s suitcase.
A statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, said the 40-year-old suspect from the Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, was arrested at the departure lounge of the airport during an outward clearance of Ethiopian Airline’s aircraft 911 from Abuja to Italy through Addis Ababa.
Babafemi said, “Under interrogation, Odeh claimed that he had been living in Italy since 2015 when he got into the country through Libya. He said he worked as a labourer in a farm in Italy with a pay of about €50 a day, adding that he also worked as a flyer distributor when the farming season is over and gets as much as €50 a day.
“Odeh claimed that he came to Nigeria over two weeks ago to see his family and also used same opportunity to buy foodstuffs to sell on his return to Italy.”
He added that after spending some days in Edo and Delta states, where he bought some foodstuffs, he travelled to Lagos to buy more foodstuffs and bush meat, which according to him was cheaper.
Curiously, he claimed that he did not know how the drug found its way into the bag as he bought the suitcase from a second-hand materials open market in Lagos not knowing that it contained the drug. When further asked of the market’s address, he added, “I don’t know the address.”
Odeh said he was accompanied to the market where he bought the suitcase by a man he claimed he first met the day he arrived Lagos from Benin, adding that he came into Abuja from Lagos for onward trip to Italy.
The Commander, Abuja Airport Command, NDLEA, Kabir Tsakuwa, said charges had already been filed against the suspect, while further investigation would continue to explore other leads on the case.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the commander, officers and men of the Abuja airport for their vigilance.
“Whenever criminal elements go to export or import illicit drugs through our borders, they will surely have the new NDLEA to contend with,” Marwa stated.
