Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a businesswoman at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja heading to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for ingesting 80 pellets of cocaine.
The woman, 46-year-old Adisa Afusat Olayinka, who lives in Ibafo, Ogun State and hails from Ilorin, in Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State was arrested on Wednesday at the boarding screening area of the airport during an outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight 1418.
She was subsequently taken into custody where she excreted 80 pellets of the illicit drug between Wednesday and Saturday.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
According to the statement, “She (the suspect) claimed during interviews that she saved N2.5m over a period of one year to buy the drugs in bits from six different people at Akala, Mushin area of Lagos. The suspect further said she was trading in clothes but had to borrow N1million from three persons to make up the money used to buy the drugs, adding that she spent another N1million to renew her passport, visa and buy return flight tickets.
“She said she was encouraged to traffic the drugs by a woman she met during her last Umrah trip to Saudi Arabia in 2019. She added that she needed to raise N7million for In Vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment due to pressure from people because she’s been married for 28 years without a child due to fertility challenges.
“Meanwhile, another trafficker, Inusa Abdulrazaki was arrested with 101 wraps of Heroin weighing 1.3 kilograms on Friday 19th Nov. at Gate C -Departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos on his way to Italy via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. The drugs were concealed inside cassava flour popularly called gari. The following day Saturday 20th Nov, NDLEA operatives at the airport during a routine cargo search at NAHCO export shed intercepted an abandoned consignment of khat 17.90kg.
“While commending the officers and men of the NAIA and MMIA commands for their vigilance and steadfastness, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa urged them to always stay two steps ahead of the drug cartels.”
