The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has taken into custody a former international footballer, Segun George Hunkarin, along with his associate, Ntoruka Chinedu, for allegedly attempting to traffic cocaine into the country via Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Chinedu, a frequent traveler known for bringing clothes into Nigeria from Turkey and exporting local food items, was apprehended on Tuesday upon arriving from Turkey on an Ethiopian Airlines flight that connected through Addis Ababa.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, a search conducted on Chinedu’s hand luggage uncovered 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams, which he was reported to have collected while in Ethiopia before flying into Nigeria.
Babafemi explained that the arrest subsequently led to the apprehension of Hunkarin, a former pro footballer with years of experience playing in Brazil.
“Investigation showed that the suspect was coming from Turkey on Ethiopian Airlines flight, but transited through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he collected the luggage from another person before heading to Nigeria. Further checks revealed that an accomplice who turned out to be the former professional footballer, Segun Hunkarin, was waiting for Chinedu at the airport carpark to collect the consignment from him.
“Hunkarin who had stayed years in Brazil playing for football clubs was promptly tracked and arrested at the carpark.
In his statement, Hunkarin claimed that while playing professional football in the South American country, he had only trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia but had never brought any to Nigeria,” he added.
In a separate case, Babafemi reported that a businessman based in Europe, Amen Okoro Godstime, was apprehended at Lagos airport last Friday while attempting to move 5,000 tramadol tablets (225mg) disguised as malaria medications including Lonart, Amatem, and Aluktem.
He was intercepted at Terminal 2 during passenger clearance for a Royal Air Maroc flight en route to Spain through Casablanca. Okoro reportedly confessed that his intention was to transport the drugs to Italy via France, where he currently resides.
At Enugu’s Akanu Ibiam International Airport, NDLEA personnel intercepted two drug traffickers arriving from different international locations on Friday.
One of them, identified as 38-year-old bar worker Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, was caught with 17.5 kilograms of methamphetamine and 3.05 kilograms of cocaine hidden in bedsheets. He had flown in from Johannesburg with a layover in Addis Ababa.
The second, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, who landed from São Paulo, Brazil, was found with a plastic container labeled as liquid soap, which upon testing turned out to contain 1.25 kilograms of liquid cocaine. Kpodar, a toy trader based in Brinquedo, São Paulo, claimed he had bought the drug while shopping in preparation for his wedding in Nigeria.
Babafemi stated, “At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu, the NDLEA operatives on Friday, June 27, intercepted a Maputo, Mozambique-based bar attendant, Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel. A search of his luggage led to the discovery of 17 cardboard-sized parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.500 kilograms and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.050 kilograms.
“The 38-year-old suspect was coming from Johannesburg, South Africa via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on an Ethiopian Airlines flight when he was interdicted and subjected to a search during which the illicit drugs concealed in bedsheets packed in his bags were discovered.
“Another passenger on board the same Ethiopian Airlines flight, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar was also intercepted at the Enugu airport by the NDLEA operatives. When Azu, who arrived from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was searched, a liquid soap plastic container marked YPE was discovered in his luggage. The substance was promptly taken for analysis at the NDLEA forensic and chemical laboratory, Enugu, where the substance tested positive for cocaine.
“The substance which turned out to be liquid cocaine weighed 1.250kg. The suspect who is a toy seller in Brinquedo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, claimed he purchased the substance while shopping for his wedding ceremony in Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, Babafemi revealed that NDLEA officers at the Seme border in Badagry apprehended 26-year-old Vode Jean-Luck, a citizen of Benin Republic, on June 24, while attempting to traffic 69 balls of skunk, a potent form of cannabis, weighing 29.5kg into Nigeria.
In another operation in Omu-Aran, Kwara State, operatives on Wednesday raided the home of a known drug dealer, Mary Bolanle Oladele, popularly called “Iya Nafi,” where they seized varying amounts of skunk, tramadol, and flunitrazepam.
In Delta State, a 72-year-old woman, Christy Ejaro, was also arrested in the Niger CAT area of Warri on June 24. Multiple sachets of skunk prepared for street sale were confiscated from the elderly suspect.
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