Udechukwu Ekene Theophilus, a returnee from Brazil, was detained by agents of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos, for consuming sixty large wraps of cocaine.
The suspect, who was apprehended on Sunday, January 21, 2024, during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the Lagos airport’s D-Arrival Hall, initially objected to a body scan, citing health concerns as a desperate attempt to avoid capture.
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Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters Abuja, made the following statement on Sunday: “When presented with alternative options, he chose to be placed on excretion observation. Shortly after entering the NDLEA observatory, he expelled the first set of cocaine pellets. In all, he expelled 60 wraps of the class A drug, weighing 1.279 kilogrammes in five excretions.”
“According to Udechukwu’s account, he consumed the shipment in Brazil and was supposed to expel all of it at the Addis Ababa airport. However, he was only able to expel 15 pellets, which he gave to a different syndicate member prior to the announcement of his scheduled departure to Nigeria.
“In his statement, Udechukwu claimed he ingested the consignment in Brazil and was to discharge everything at the airport in Addis Ababa but could only excrete 15 pellets which he handed over to another member of his syndicate before his connecting flight to Nigeria was called.
