Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully detained Erasmus Jean-Pierre, a 29-year-old individual from South Africa, on charges of drug trafficking. Jean-Pierre was arrested for his attempt to smuggle 2.6kg of methamphetamine out of Nigeria, concealed within his luggage, with the intention of exporting it to Middle-East Asia.
The NDLEA recently revealed its accomplishments in intercepting various drug trafficking schemes. One significant operation involved thwarting a transnational cartel’s plan to transport drugs by ingeniously hiding them inside a pair of male slippers and within the walls of a wooden drum, all intended for shipment to Indonesia.
Femi Babafemi, the spokesperson for NDLEA, issued a press statement on Sunday detailing these successful interventions. According to Babafemi, Jean-Pierre’s arrest took place on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. The arrest occurred during the pre-flight security clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 404, scheduled to depart from Abuja to the Middle-East via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A thorough inspection of Jean-Pierre’s luggage led to the discovery of the concealed methamphetamine, which was found meticulously packed in various sections of his bag.
Preliminary investigations into the matter revealed that Jean-Pierre had entered Lagos via Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on Saturday, August 19. He then proceeded to Abuja on Tuesday, August 22, and acquired the bag containing the illegal drugs on Wednesday, August 23. His intention was to board the Ethiopian Airlines flight carrying the contraband out of Nigeria.
In addition to the South African’s arrest, NDLEA’s dedicated operatives also uncovered other drug trafficking attempts. These operations included the discovery of ketamine hidden within leather slippers and skunk concealed within the walls of a wooden drum, both bound for Indonesia. The NDLEA teams involved in these successes were part of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) stationed at courier companies in Lagos.
Further achievements by NDLEA personnel were reported across various states. In Gombe State, officers stumbled upon an abandoned Volkswagen Sharon containing 373,420 pills of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam. Meanwhile, in Ogun State, a drug dealer named Ifeanyi Orji was apprehended, leading to the recovery of 81,000 tablets of tramadol weighing 32.4kg.
The agency’s efforts extended to Adamawa State, where operatives seized 60,000 pills of tramadol from Ibrahim Abba, a 25-year-old suspect traveling in a commercial Toyota Starlet car from Kalaa village to Mubi.
Within the Federal Capital Territory, NDLEA officers seized two shipments of skunk with a combined weight of 1,242.1kg. The first consignment, weighing 665.1kg, was confiscated from a truck near Area 3. Subsequently, another 577kg consignment was recovered during a stop-and-search operation along the Lokoja-Abaji Expressway. The illicit substances were concealed within goods delivery packages inside a container Mercedes truck. This operation led to the arrest of the truck’s driver, Yusuf Yakubu-Asokomhe, and his assistant, Tunde Ogundare
