By; RAYMOND TEDUNJAYE, Lagos
Two Qatar based Nigerian drug kingpins have been nabbed by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
This occurred just as the agency said it destroyed 30.9 hectares of canabis (Indian Hemp) farms in Ondo, Delta and Edo states within the .past week.
The arrest of the duo drug kingpins, identified as Eyah Celestine Nnamdi alias Murphy) and Ugwuoke Peter Oluchukwu followed the interception of their methamphetamine consignment at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
The Director of Media and Advocacy of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi in a statement today, disclosed that Ugwuoke was apprehended on June 9 during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways passengers at the departure point, Terminal 2 of the Lagos Airport.
According to the statement, the Narcotics officers discovered that the suspect was travelling to Doha with an Ivorian international passport with the name Hien Narcisse.
” A further scrutiny of his black carry-on luggage led to the discovery of a false bottom concealment of two parcels of crystalline substance that tested positive to meth weighing 1.00kg.
“:Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a Nigerian who had gone to obtain an Ivorian passport for his travels.
” He confessed that he travelled to Qatar in August 2022 and returned from the Arab nation about two months ago to perfect arrangement for the movement of the drug consignment.
“;A further probe led operatives to discover that his Qatar-based senior partner in the trade simply identified as Murphy was lurking around in Eziani, his home town in Nsukka LGA, Enugu state.
” A prompt deployment of NDLEA operatives on June 10 to Eziani community led to the arrest of ‘Murphy’ whose true identity was later discovered to be Eyah Celestine Nnamdi, who had lived in Indonesia for some years before relocating to Doha, Qatar”, Babafemi stated.
Meanwhile, a total of 30.9 hectares of cannabis farms were destroyed in Delta, Edo and Ondo in the past week.
In Delta, 18 hectares of cannabis farms were destroyed on Monday, June 12 in Umuchime village, Ogume, Ndokwa West LGA by NDLEA operatives supported by soldiers.
Four suspects arrested on the farms include two men and two women: Kingsley Atuola, 40; Okikiolu Adekunle, 44; Osai Doris, 40, and Ublenu Joy, 28.
In Edo State, operatives on Wednesday, June 14, stormed Awakpa forest in Owan West LGA where they arrested Malachy Amaechi; Nanmua Peter; Ojo Momoh; Afam Luke and John Danladi who were apprehended inside a hut located on 2.5 hectares of cannabis farm, which was destroyed and 102 kilograms of the substance already harvested recovered.
Another farm measuring 1.294870 hectares was also destroyed with the three farms razed totalling 3.978217 hectares.
In Ondo State, John Emmanuel, 30, was arrested at Ofosu, with 81kg cannabis on Thursday 15th June while operatives on same day nabbed Gideon Akoh at Ala forest where a total of nine hectares of farm were destroyed and 12kg harvested substance recovered.
