A Nigeria-born businessman based in Brazil, Uche Franklin Onyekwere, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport after allegedly attempting to smuggle cocaine concealed in his genitals and the soles of his shoes.
The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement Sunday that Onyekwere was arrested Thursday at the airport’s arrival hall during the clearance of passengers on a South African Airways flight from Brazil via Johannesburg.
Babafemi said the arrest followed intelligence reports and that a full body scan conducted on the 47-year-old suspect confirmed the presence of illicit drugs concealed on his body. He said, “As a result, he was subjected to a strip search, during which a big parcel of white powdery substance, which later tested positive for cocaine, was discovered wrapped around his right thigh.
A further search revealed two additional wraps of the same substance concealed in the sole of a pair of flat shoes worn by the suspect. In all, three large wraps of cocaine, with a gross weight of 1.60 kilograms, were recovered from his body and footwear. “During a preliminary interview, the suspect revealed he purchased the illicit drug consignment in Brazil with the intention to resell the cocaine in Nigeria in order to raise capital to boost his business and also finance the naming ceremony of his newly born child. The suspect who lives in Rua Ever, Mulariuha, São Paulo, claimed that he has been living in Brazil since 2008 while he has been operating a toy business for about nine years.”
Babafemi said at the Tincan seaport in Lagos, a total of 55 jumbo bags of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis with a gross weight of 1,183 kilograms imported from Montreal, Canada in a container was discovered on Wednesday, during a joint examination of the shipment by NDLEA officers, Customs and other security agencies.
