This Life: 22-year-old Nigerian caught with 1.3kg hard drugs

A 22-year-old Nigerian, Jude Ejikonye Ilechukwu who resides in Thailand was recently apprehended by men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLE, with 1.295kg of substance discovered to be methamphetamine. Ilechukwu was arrested at the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

The drug which was concealed inside his luggage, was detected during the screening of passengers on Ethiopian Airline at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The MMIA Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Hamza Umar, said the drug was carefully hidden in the suspects’ luggage.

Umar said: “Like several factory modes of drug concealment, we had to practically cut the bag open to detect the drugs.

“Ordinarily, when you open the bag, you will not see the drug.

“We found two brown parcels of drugs weighing 1.295kg.”

According to Ilechukwu, he was lured into the drug deal by a friend he met in Thailand.

In his words: “I am a business man. I relocated to Thailand last year where I buy goods and send to Nigeria.

“It was in Thailand that I met a man who introduced me into drug business. He gave my number to his partner in Lagos who lodged me in a hotel.

“They made me to contribute N750,000 as my contribution and promised me a handsome reward on arrival in Thailand.

“My focus was on the profit that will accrue to me. It was when I was arrested that I realised I had made a big mistake.”

The suspect attended Okija Community Primary School and Okija Grammar School, Anambra State before he started business.

The Chairman/Chief Executive officer of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, said that the Agency will investigate all cases and bring drug culprits to justice.

Giade said; “The Agency is prepared to bring drug barons to justice. Our target is to reduce the drug problem to the barest minimum.”

It was confirmed that the suspect will soon be charged to court.