Cocaine worth over N2.7bn intercepted at Abuja airport

32-year-old Maduabuchi Chinedu, a drug trafficker based in Liberia, has been arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Maduabuchi was arrested with 9.30 kilograms of cocaine worth over N2.7 billion in street value.

The suspect, who hails from Obaha Okigwe village, Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo state, lives in Liberia where he works as a miner.

He was nabbed during an inward joint search of Ethiopian Airlines flight 911 at the Abuja airport on Wednesday with 9.30kg cocaine with each pellet wrapped in candies wraps and concealed in his luggage.

During his preliminary interview, Maduabuchi claimed he left Nigeria in 2018 to settle in Liberia where he now has a residence permit.

He, however, said the economic pressure and the need to raise money to treat his mother for an eye problem led him to seek help from a friend in Liberia.

Maduabuchi  added that the friend introduced him to another friend based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia who eventually gave him the drug to deliver in Abuja for a fee of N1 million.

Narrating further, the  drug trafficker said that he was initially billed to deliver the drugs to Ivory Coast but was rerouted to Nigeria at the last minute.

While lauding the officers and men of the NAIA Command of the agency for their vigilance and working in synergy with other security agencies at the airport, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) tasked them and their colleagues in other commands to always remain two steps ahead of merchants of death who are getting more desperate to make money at the expense of the image of the country and Nigerians’ wellbeing.