NDLEA Nabs 2 Suspected Qatar-based Drug Lords

National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Qatar-based suspected drug kingpins, Eyah Celestine Nnamdi, alias Murphy and Ugwuoke Peter Oluchukwu.

Their arrests followed the interception of their methamphetamine consignment at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos.

NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi said Ugwuoke was the first to be arrested on 9th June during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways passengers at the departure point, Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport.

NDLEA officers discovered that the suspect was travelling to Doha with an Ivorian international passport with the name Hien Narcisse.

A further scrutiny of his black carry-on luggage led to the discovery of a false bottom concealment of two parcels of crystalline substance that tested positive to methamphetamine weighing 1.00kg.

NDLEA said preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a Nigerian, who had gone to obtain an Ivorian passport for his travels.

He confessed that he travelled to Qatar in August 2022 and returned from the Arab nation about two months ago to perfect arrangements for the movement of the drug consignment.

The NDLEA said a further probe led operatives to discover that his Qatar-based senior partner in the trade, simply identified as Murphy, was lurking around Eziani, his home town in Nsukka LGA, Enugu State.

Babafemi further said a prompt deployment of NDLEA operatives on 10th June to Eziani community of Nsukka local government area of Enugu State, led to the arrest of ‘Murphy’ whose true identity was later discovered to be Eyah Celestine Nnamdi, who had lived in Indonesia for some years before relocating to Doha, Qatar.

Also, the NDLEA has arrested a female pharmacist, Ikwebe Ori Hellen in Kaduna following her attempts to use forged documents to purchase and distribute six cartons of pentazocine injection with 2,000 ampules.

“She confessed she used fake documents from a Kaduna hospital to order the drug, which she planned to distribute in Kaduna, Abuja and Sokoto. The consignment was initially intercepted at the local wing of the MMIA, Ikeja while being sent to Kaduna by a freight agent,” the NDLEA stated.