NDLEA has arrested a businesswoman, Mrs Olayinka Adisa, a Saudi Arabia-bound passenger who ingested 80 pellets of cocaine.
She was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while ostensibly on her way to perform Umrah (Lesser Hadj).
NDLEA spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi, stated on Monday in Abuja that Adisa, 46, lives in Ibafo, Ogun State and hails from Ilorin.
“She was arrested on Wednesday, Nov. 24 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.
“She claimed during interrogation that she saved N2.5million over a period of one year to buy the drugs in bits from six different people at Akala, Mushin area of Lagos,’’ the statement said
Babafemi added that the suspect said she was trading in clothes but had to borrow N1 million from three persons to make up the money used to buy the drugs.
“She spent another N1 million to renew her passport, obtain 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 said she needed to raise N7 million for In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment due to pressure from people because she’s been married for 28 years without a child due to fertility challenges,’’ Babafemi added.
Meanwhile, another trafficker, Inusa Abdulrazaki, was arrested with 101 wraps of heroin weighing 1.3 kilograms on Friday, Nov. 19.
Abdulrazaki was arrested at the Departure Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on his way to Italy via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines.
“The drugs were concealed inside cassava flour popularly called `Gari’.
“On Nov. 20, NDLEA operatives at the airport intercepted an abandoned consignment of khat 17.90kg,’’ Babafemi also stated.
