NDLEA Arrests Convicted Cocaine Trafficker Disguised As Herbal Tea Merchant

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker who allegedly returned to the illicit drug trade under a new identity and disguised himself as a herbal tea merchant.

The arrest formed part of a coordinated nationwide crackdown that also led to the interception of a 20,000-litre fuel tanker fitted with a concealed compartment for cannabis, as well as the seizure of more than two million pills of opioids and large consignments of cannabis, methamphetamine and other psychotropic substances across nine states.

The NDLEA, in a statement by its director, media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi said the 34-year-old suspect, Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was arrested during a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market, in the Ojo area of Lagos, on Friday.

Ebubechukwu was allegedly linked to a 1.2kg cocaine shipment concealed in phone chargers and destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The consignment was intercepted at a courier company in Lagos on July 31.

According to the agency, intelligence-led investigations by operatives of its Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) eventually led to the suspect.

Babafemi said during interrogation, the suspect allegedly admitted masterminding previous drug shipments and said he discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that the latest cocaine consignment had been intercepted.

The NDLEA said the suspect had previously been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, in 2011 after allegedly ingesting 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria.

He was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment. The agency said he subsequently changed his name from Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu and returned to the illicit drug business.

A search of his residence at Ejigbo, Lagos, on Friday also led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those allegedly used to conceal the cocaine shipment, with their internal components removed to create space for drugs.

At the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, valued at over N1.1 billion, concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton shipment from Pakistan.

The agency also recovered 57.8kg of Loud, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis, estimated at over N173 million in street value. The drug was hidden inside cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore that had remained unclaimed for weeks before a joint examination by NDLEA, Customs and other security agencies.