The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a second drug mule within a fortnight attempting to traffic cocaine to Iran, marking a disturbing trend in cross-border drug trafficking from Nigeria to the Islamic Republic.Travel guides for Nigeria

Operatives at the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA) apprehended a 44-year-old businessman, Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka Christian, on Saturday, June 7, as he tried to board Qatar Airways flight QR1434 en route to Tehran Khomeini via Doha.

After a body scan returned a positive result for ingestion of illicit drugs, Ezemokwe was placed under excretion observation. During the process, he excreted 53 wraps of cocaine in six excretions, weighing 1.172 kilograms in total.

According to the NDLEA statement on Sunday signed by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media & Advocacy, “The suspect claimed to have gone into the criminal trade two years ago, moving between the West African sub-region and Iran.”

The arrest comes just days after NDLEA operatives at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, detained Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, a 60-year-old businessman heading to Iran with 65 pellets of cocaine concealed in his stomach.

These two arrests in quick succession suggest a growing trafficking corridor targeting Iran, prompting NDLEA to intensify surveillance at Nigeria’s international airports.Travel guides for Nigeria

Also, according to Babafemi, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports in Onne, Rivers State, on Friday, June 13, intercepted a shipment containing 157,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup with a street value of over ₦1.1 billion.

The seizure was made during a joint examination of a watch-listed container in collaboration with officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.

The statement said, “The opioid consignments were hidden behind 257 cartons of ceramic sanitary wares.Travel guides for Nigeria

“At least, three suspects: Friday Achibong Joseph, 47; Abraham Anthony Willy, 21; and Utibe David Okon, 24, were arrested on Thursday 12th June when NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse in Obereakai, Odukpani LGA, Cross River state, where a total of 2,687kg skunk, a strain of cannabis, was recovered.

“Same day in Bauchi state, NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence, arrested the duo of Iriemi Imonikhe, 49, and Sa’idu Ladan, 30, along Bauchi -Jos road after 195 blocks of skunk weighing 287kg were discovered in their Toyota Camry car marked AKL 201 GG.

“While 14 jumbo sacks of skunk weighing 560kg were recovered from a wooden boat at Oniru beach in Lagos by operatives of the Marine Command of NDLEA on Thursday 12th June, officers of the Muhammadu Buhari International Airport Maiduguri (MBIAM) same day arrested two businessmen: Ishaku Abdullahi, 30; and Buba Usman, 32, at the arrival hall of the domestic wing of the airport with various quantities of ecstacy pills and skunk packaged in fanciful wraps labelled as ‘Lychee’ and ‘Porro Legal.’”

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