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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a fake couple, Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum, purportedly going for medical treatment in India for ingesting 184 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.322 kilogrammes, with 100 grammes of the drug also concealed in the woman’s private part.

The two suspects were intercepted at the Screening Point 1, Terminal 1 of the international wing of the Lagos Airport on Tuesday, August 1, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to India.

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Though their travel documents show consistency in their names and depict them as a couple, an NDLEA officer however decided to subject them to body scan. The scan confirmed they both ingested drugs for which they were later placed on excretion observation at the agency’s facility.

While their travel documents identify the man as Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and the lady to be Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum, preliminary investigation revealed that the intending passengers were not a couple but obtained the travel documents in the same surname to beat security checks at the airport. The lady later gave her real name as Ngogbike Nkechi.

Spokesperson for the Agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement, yesterday, said during her interview, she confessed that she was recruited in her church in Aba, Abia State, where she lives.

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According to him, the suspect, Nonyelum (a.k.a Ngogbike Nkechi) stated further that she is a divorcee, and that Kingsley with whom she was travelling was not her husband but connected only for the purpose of the illicit drug business trip.

She revealed that her arranged husband, Kingsley, brought the pellets of cocaine to her to ingest in a hotel where they were both lodged in separate rooms the previous day Monday, July 31.

After their arrest, a thorough search conducted on her led to the discovery of a big size wrap of cocaine that weighed 100 grammes she inserted into her private part.

She confessed that she was promised $5,000 upon successful delivery of the drug in India. In his own statement, Kingsley who was into clothing business in Onitsha, Anambra State, claimed he was promised $2,000, after a successful delivery of the drug in India.

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A further search of the Agency’s crime database revealed that Kingsley also obtained his travel documents with fake identity for the trip. Indeed, it was established that he was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, on March 19, 2022, for ingesting 100 wraps of cocaine weighing 2.243kgs upon his arrival from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on board an Ethiopian Airline flight. His travel documents then contained his real name: Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian.

After his arrest at the Abuja Airport on March 19, 2022 along with another suspect, Iro Elvis Uche, who also ingested 65 wraps of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.376kgs, Uwaezuoke was subsequently arraigned before Justice Zainab Abubakar of the Federal High Court, Abuja with charge number: FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2022. He was eventually granted bail by the court pending the conclusion of his trial. He is still on the court bail when he was arrested at the Lagos Airport for a similar offence on Tuesday.

ALSO, NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) attached to courier companies in Lagos have intercepted various quantities of dextromethorphan mixed with heroin; methamphetamine; Dimethyl Sulfone and Cannabis concealed in different objects going to Europe.

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While 272 grammes of dextromethorphan mixed with heroin going to Greece were recovered from white neck beads; 665 grammes of cannabis being shipped to Hong Kong were hidden in bars of Dudu Osun black bathing soap; with 261 grammes of dimethyl sulfone going to New Zealand hidden in reels of weaving threads and 1.5kgs of methamphetamine also going to New Zealand neatly packed in an MP3 player after all the parts were removed and the substance stuffed as replacement.

Other illicit drugs were seized, and suspects arrested in Kano, Borno and Anambra states within the last seven days.

In his reaction to the seizures and arrests of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers and men of MMIA, Kano, FCT and Borno Commands of the Agency as well as those of DOGI for their diligence, vigilance and professionalism in the discharge of their responsibilities. He charged them and their compatriots across the country not to rest on their oars.

Guardian