The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has foiled attempts by two suspected drug kingpins to smuggle heroin into Nigeria through the Port Harcourt International Airport and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, respectively.
In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said one of the kingpins used dual identities to aid his cross-border movements.
He said the suspect had a Nigerian passport bearing his real name and that of Sierra Leone with a different name.
Mr Babafemi said the suspect, aged 30, was intercepted by NDLEA officers with his Sierra Leonean passport on Sunday, February 2, at the Port Harcourt airport, Rivers state.
He said this was during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight from Doha through Abuja to Port Harcourt.
Mr Babafemi said the suspect was subsequently taken for a body scan, which confirmed he ingested illicit drugs and was thereafter placed under observation.
The NDLEA spokesman said the suspect subsequently expelled at five different times a total of 62 wraps of heroin weighing 1.348 kilogrammes.
“Investigations revealed that the suspect (alias Kargbo Mohamed Foday) alternates his two identities for different drug trafficking missions between Thailand, Pakistan, Iran and West African countries.
“He claimed to have gone full-time into the illicit drug trade in 2017 when his clothing and shoe business went down.
“The second kingpin, 48, was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport on Saturday, February 1, upon his arrival from Madagascar via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian Airline flight.
“After a body scan confirmed illicit drug in his system, he was placed under observation during which he ingested 63 wraps of heroin with a total weight of 909 grams.
“The suspect had left Lagos for Madagascar on January 26 and returned via Addis Ababa after spending a week.
“He claimed to have gone into the criminal trade after his phone accessories business in Liberia collapsed,” he said.