Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Friday, January 19, arrested the suspected owner of a consignment of tramadol concealed in a bottle of dietary supplements, which caused a furore at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, on Tuesday.
Director, Media & Advocacy of NDLEA, Mr. Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a Sunday statement.
The Herald had sighted a viral video in which it was claimed that a suspect being tortured on his knees while being slapped by another on Tuesday was an employee of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) that had smuggled drugs into a passenger’s luggage.
One day later, FAAN clarified that the suspect was not its staff but an employee of an aviation services company operating within the airport premises.
Babafemi said, “Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Friday 19th January arrested one Okosun Paul Punitt, the consignee of a consignment of tramadol concealed in a bottle of dietary supplements, which a staff of Pathfinder International Ltd, Ajuzieogu Mac-Elvis Ugochukwu attempted sending through an intending passenger on Ibom Air to Accra, Ghana at the Lagos airport on Tuesday 16th January.
“A video of the face-off between the passenger and Ajuzieogu later went viral after the vigilant passenger suspected the consignment contained illicit substances.
“Both Ajuzieogu and the exhibit were later transferred to NDLEA on Thursday 18th January by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN for investigation.
“Preliminary findings by NDLEA showed the parcel contained 50 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in a bottle of dietary supplements.
“A follow-up operation by the Agency led to the arrest of Okosun upon his return from Ghana on Friday. He has in his statement confirmed ownership of the drug.”
Meanwhile, Babafemi said two vigilant freight agents and a traveler escaped being roped into two drug trafficking operations by desperate traffickers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos.
“The two agents were contacted to send a consignment of 1kg cannabis concealed in tins of Milo beverage to Turkey but chose to submit the shipment to NDLEA checks before processing the cargo.
“The psychoactive substance was later discovered to be hidden inside the shipment,” the NDLEA spokesman said.
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