By 
Tayo AFOLABI
An ex-convict, Onyeka Charles Madukolu sentenced to seven years imprisonment in Ethiopia for drug trafficking offences and released from prison in 2020, has been arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, arrested Madukolu for importing 5.90 kilograms of cocaine concealed in cans of deodorants and ladies’ lip gloss into Nigeria.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesman, in a statement on Sunday said Onyeka, was again arrested on Friday 16th September 2022 at the Lagos airport on his return from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
“A search of his luggage revealed he had concealed 5.90kg cocaine inside cans of deodorants and female lip gloss.
“During preliminary interview, he claimed to have gone into the drug business to raise fresh capital to start a legitimate business after his release from Ethiopian prison in 2020,” Babafemi said.
The NDLEA spokesman disclosed that the father of two kids, one each from a Nigerian woman and a Brazilian lady, said he was into motor spare parts business before going into the criminal trade, adding that the 44-year-old indigene of Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State said he was expecting to be paid N2 million on successful delivery of the illicit drug in Nigeria.
In a related development, NDLEA says its operatives impounded a Peugeot J5 vehicle loaded with 18 pieces of pump action rifles and 1,300 cartridges in Kogi on Saturday.
The vehicle took off from Onitsha in Anambra and was heading to Zaria in Kaduna State when it was intercepted on the Okene-Abuja Highway.
Babafemi explained that two suspects found in the vehicle, Chukwudi Aronu, 51, and Shuaibu Gambo, 23, were arrested.
He added that also on Saturday, one Anthony Agada, 37, conveying 1,000 ammunition cartridges to Abuja from Onitsha was nabbed in a bus.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday 13th Sept., Babafemi said NDLEA operatives intercepted another trafficker, Chukwu Kingsley on his way to Rome, Italy on an Asky Airline flight.
“A search of his luggage shows he had concealed among food condiments 11,460 tablets of tramadol 225mg with a gross weight of 5.7kg and 39 bottles of codeine syrup.
“The 49-year-old suspect is a known haulage agent who hails from Oru West Local Government Area of Imo State,” he said.
He further disclosed that at the Lagos airport, a freight agent, Lawal Adeyemi was arrested same day for attempting to export some sachets of lexotan among other non-controlled drugs to Liberia, while operatives equally seized 593.90 kilograms of khat leaf at the NAHCO import shed of the airport on Thursday 15th Sept. after a joint examination of the cargo by a combined team of security agencies.
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