NDLEA Apprehends Kenyan National with 6.5kg of Cocaine

Hamid Ayodeji

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA) has apprehended a Kenyan national, Angela Wairimu, while trying to smuggle 6.5 kilogrammes of drugs suspected to be cocaine into Nigeria at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Special Area Command.

According to a statement issued yesterday by the Principal Staff Officer, Public Affairs, Jonah Achema, the Kenyan was arrested on arrival from South Africa aboard Ethiopian Airline flight to Abuja with the illicit substance concealed in the false bottom of a travelling bag she carried as hand luggage which also contained two wrapped parcels of the same illicit drug.

On her part, Wairimu stated that she is a modeling expert, trader in clothes and cosmetics, which made her friend in South Africa to approach her for assistance in delivering the brief case containing wares in Nigeria which was brought to her at the Airport through an errand boy which she was to deliver to the husband of the sender at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

She disclosed that this was her second trip to Nigeria to procure home-made body beauty products and local fabrics for her enterprise called La Model in South Africa and Kenya. While denying being under any financial inducement, she confessed that her daughter was suffering from acute leukemia which put her under financial pressure.

Meanwhile, speaking on the issue, NDLEA Commander, Hamisu Lawan, said: “The seizure is the biggest cocaine shipment in recent times made by the Command.

“We have had seizures of Heroin, Ephedrine and Methamphetamine going to southern part of Africa and in some cases to Asia, and even as far as the pacific region such as New Zealand. However, we are not surprised at cocaine coming from South Africa which is largely due to flight network connection, operating two flights daily from Sao Paulo.”

The commander also called for the deployment of NDLEA in certain source countries as a matter of national security, urging drug traffickers to desist from testing the will of the agency.

He further explained that “no matter the mode used by drug traffickers to conceal illicit drugs, we are well trained to detect it.

“Airport employees are now cautious of insider threat as this makes rip on/rip off possible.

“Also, I am using this opportunity to call for the urgent implementation of Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) at the airports.”