The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a businessman, Olisaka Chibuzo Calistus, at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano State. The agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, December 15.

According to Babafemi, the suspect, an importer and exporter, was apprehended with 256 wraps of cocaine weighing 6 kilograms during the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 941 from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“This seizure is the single largest interception of cocaine at the Kano airport since the creation of the NDLEA’s MAKIA Command in 2006. Olisaka, who claims to be involved in import and export, was subjected to body screening and found to have concealed hundreds of cocaine pellets in his body,” Babafemi said.

In a related development, the NDLEA foiled an attempt by an ex-convict, Olanrewaju Bada Akorede, to export Rohypnol to South Africa through the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos. The drugs were hidden in a cargo containing gari, shoes, men’s singlets, and other items.

Akorede, who was convicted earlier this year for attempting to smuggle 4.90kg of tramadol and 2.10kg of Rohypnol to South Africa, had been sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Lagos. However, he paid a fine of N900,000 and was released before attempting the same crime again.

Additionally, an Italy-based businesswoman, Cynthia Akaeen, was arrested on Wednesday, December 18, while trying to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Italy via Addis Ababa. NDLEA officers intercepted her at the Lagos airport with 9,190 tablets of tramadol weighing 6 kilograms.

“Akaeen admitted she was promised 1,000 Euros for successfully delivering the consignment in Italy,” Babafemi added.