Surinamese Man Arrested with 9.9kg Cocaine Concealed in Condoms

Micheal Olugbode in Abuja

A 34-year-old male South American from Suriname, Mr. Dadda Albert, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers State, for allegedly bringing into Nigeria 117 parcels of cocaine concealed in extra-large latex condoms factory packed inside bottles of 100ml body spray.

A statement on Sunday by the Spokesman of NDLEA, Mr. Femi Babafemi, said that the suspect claimed that he departed his country, Suriname, located in the North-eastern coast of South America on April 2, for Sao Paulo, Brazil, and from São Paulo boarded Qatar Airways flight to Nigeria last Friday in search of his long-lost Nigerian father whom he called “Omini.”

In another development, NDLEA officers at Tincan seaport in Lagos have intercepted 110 parcels of Colorado, a strain of cannabis, weighing 55 kilogrammes hidden in a container marked MSCU 4972769 from Toronto via Montreal, Canada.

According to Babafemi, the illicit consignment was discovered in the container bearing five units of used vehicles, during a joint examination of the cargo by NDLEA and other port stakeholders.

He disclosed that the seizure was part of a total of 1,559.3 kilogrammes (1.5 tons) of the psychoactive substance seized during interdiction operations in five states in the past week.

He said that while two suspects, Mr. Nura Ibrahim (40), and Mr. Habibu Sadiq (38), were arrested with alleged 120 blocks of cannabis weighing 148.7 kilogrammes along Zaria-Kano Road, Kano, on Sunday, April 2 April, not less than 418.5 kilogrammes of the same substance and a Sienna space bus used in conveying it were recovered last Thursday at a notorious drug hub, Patey, Lagos Island.

He disclosed that a suspect, Azi Solomon, was arrested same day at Ojota Garage while allegedly attempting to move 23 kilogrammes cannabis to another state.

Similarly, two suspects, namely Mr. Abubakar Abdulahi and Mr. Stanley Tobias were arrested last Friday with alleged 108,000 tablets of tramadol at Oyingbo Motor Park in Lagos.

In Imo, the NDLEA’s operatives on routine patrol along Owerri- Onitsha Expressway intercepted a commercial bus and recovered a total of 37,210 pills of opioids and 30 bottles of codeine syrup were recovered and three suspects arrested in follow up operations.

Babafemi said that a total of 40.9 kilogrammes cannabis was allegedly sized from two suspects: Mr. Haruna Adamu (32), and Mr. Salisu Ibrahim (30), in parts of Taraba, just as 502,840 pills of tramadol and exol-5 were recovered from a suspect, Imrana Aliyu, in Wukari last Thursday; 205.6 kilogrammes was recovered from the home of a fleeing suspect in Gida Dubu area of Bauchi metropolis.

He disclosed that the Sokoto State command of the agency also received 667.6 kilogrammes cannabis seized by men of the Nigeria Customs Service along Illela-Niger Republic border.

Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (Retd), has commended the officers and men of PHIA, Tincan, Kano, Lagos, Imo, Taraba, Bauchi, and Sokoto Commands of the agency for their vigilance and professionalism.

He urged them and their peers across the country to maintain the current momentum in their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts and even strive to exceed set targets.