A Brazilian returnee, Igwedum Benson, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, with pellets of cocaine concealed in his private parts.

The NDLEA Public Relations Officer, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said Igwedum was nabbed at the Lagos airport last Monday upon his arrival on an Ethiopian airline from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The statement read, “Preliminary investigations reveal that the suspect had swallowed 50 wraps of cocaine before departing Brazil and excreted 48 pellets in Addis Ababa where he handed them over to another person.

“He, however, claimed he was unable to excrete the remaining two wraps at the hotel room in Addis Ababa before boarding his flight, but later excreted them in the aircraft restroom during the flight from Ethiopia to Lagos.

“In the same vein, after three weeks of painstaking investigation and tracking, operatives of the MMIA command of NDLEA on Saturday night, June 25, arrested a drug kingpin, Onyekachi Chukwuma Macdonald, behind attempts to export 40 parcels of Methamphetamine popularly called Mkpuru Mmiri locally to London, United Kingdom, through the NAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport.

“Onyekachi was arrested at Manacola estate, in the Alakuko area of Lagos, at the weekend, three weeks after his Mkpuru Mmiri consignment weighing 2.05kilograms was intercepted at the airport and his freight agent, Peter Christopher Anikan, arrested on 7th June.

“During his interview, the suspect said he’s from Ahiazu, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State and had lived in Dubai, UAE, for 10 years before returning to Nigeria in 2019. He stated that after his return to Nigeria, he opened a phone accessory shop in Sango Otta, Ogun State, but the business collapsed.

“He then started sending cigarettes to London and decided to conceal the illicit drug in the consignment after advice by a friend.”

Meanwhile, two kingpins behind the importation of two recent drug consignments from Canada concealed in vehicle containers through the Tincan seaport in Apapa, Lagos, were arrested by NDLEA operatives.

In a related development, Commander of the NDLEA in Kwara State, Ibrahim Saidu, said the command arrested 38 youths with 53.33kg of illicit drugs and psychotropic substances in the state within the two months of his resumption of office.