NDLEA Arrests Ex-convict Returning from Brazilian Prison With Cocaine

NDLEA Arrests Ex-convict Returning from Brazilian Prison With Cocaine

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested one Amaechi Okechukwu, who just finished serving his jail term for drug trafficking in Brazil for importing 24 parcels of cocaine concealed in 12 tyres of lawnmowers imported into the country through the Port Harcourt International Airport.

A statement on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the 45-year-old ex-convict from Idemili South LGA, Anambra State, was arrested at the Port Harcourt airport on Saturday, May 7, upon arrival from Brazil via Doha onboard a Qatar airline flight QR1433.

According to him, preliminary investigations revealed that Okechukwu, who was arrested and convicted in Brazil for drug offences, completed his jail sentence in March 2022, after which he decided to return to Nigeria with three new lawnmowers where he concealed 24 parcels of cocaine weighing 4.56kg.

Babafemi said, “Curiously, each parcel concealed in the tyres of the three lawnmowers bears some unique inscriptions, which are believed to be means of identification of the owners of the drug. The two parcels in one of the tyres of the first lawnmower bear ‘O Lord’ and ‘Have Mercy’. The parcels in one of the tyres of the second mower bear the inscription, ‘In God’ and ‘We Trust’, while the third mower has ‘Ijioma’ and ‘186.6’ inscribed on the two parcels hidden in one of its tyres.”

Okechukwu claimed one of his church members gave him the lawnmowers to deliver to his brother in Port Harcourt.

In other operations across Zamfara, Kogi, Rivers, Kaduna and Kano states, no fewer than 37, 876 tablets of pharmaceutical opioids, especially tramadol; 10,884 bottles of codeine and 825.016 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa, were recovered during raids in the past week.