Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have recovered drugs worth ₦4.4 billion hidden in the lavatories of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft purportedly by suspects who are under investigation by the agency.
The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, said that the drugs were discovered during the post-landing cleaning of flight ET900 from Addis Ababa to Lagos on October 29, 2024.
According to him, the drugs were wrapped in nine polythene bags and concealed in the waste collectors in the two rear lavatories of the aircraft.
Babafemi added that about 30 suspects were being interrogated in connection with the crime.
“The attempt by members of an international drug syndicate operating between Brazil, Ethiopia, and Nigeria to smuggle into Lagos a total of 845 wraps of cocaine weighing 18.72 kilogrammes has been thwarted, with the consignments recovered by NDLEA operatives at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja,” Babafemi said.
“The drug consignments, worth ₦4,492,800,000 in street value, were recovered from two lavatories of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft during the post-landing cleaning of flight ET900 from Addis Ababa to Lagos on Tuesday, October 29, 2024,” he added.
“The illicit drug consignments were wrapped in nine polythene bags and concealed in the waste collectors in the two rear lavatories of the aircraft, from where they were recovered after the MMIA Strategic Command of the NDLEA was alerted to the strange objects. No fewer than 30 suspects have so far been questioned in connection with the seizure.”
“Investigations revealed that the seized drugs were transported from Brazil to Ethiopia by ingestion and excreted in Addis Ababa by a group of couriers. Other traffickers then attempted to smuggle them into Nigeria through Lagos airport before their plan was thwarted with the cooperation of the airline’s authorities and other airport stakeholders.”
Meanwhile, Babafemi said drugs concealed in body cream containers and artworks were also recovered by the agency’s operatives.
“In a similar vein, attempts by drug trafficking syndicates to export 2.928 kg of cocaine, cannabis, and tramadol 225 mg, concealed in body cream containers and pieces of artwork to Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom through courier companies in Lagos were also blocked by NDLEA officers from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, on Monday, October 28,” he said.
Babafemi also disclosed that at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 754,000 pills of tapentadol and acetaminophen 225 mg worth ₦525 million in a targeted and watch-listed container from India during a joint examination with Customs Service officers and other security agencies, among others, on October 29, 2024.
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