NDLEA arrests ex-footballer, Brazil returnee for cocaine trafficking

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has arrested an ex-footballer, Okafor Emmanuel Junior at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on his arrival from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on board an Ethiopian airlines flight with 1.40kg crack cocaine concealed in his bags.

The 33-year-old indigene of Abia State was arrested on Monday, September 26, after anti-narcotic officers discovered he concealed the illicit substance in the handles of his bags and padded the top edges of same with the class A drug.

NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement yesterday, said during preliminary interview, Okafor disclosed that he was an ex-footballer with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu FC, where he played for four seasons, before leaving for Sri Lanka in 2014.

According to Babafemi, the suspect further stated that he moved to Brazil from Sri Lanka after playing for two seasons but could not advance his football career in Brazil due to lack of official documents.

Another Brazilian returnee, Ibeh Chinedu Damian, was arrested same day upon his arrival at the Lagos airport from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Ethiopian airlines flight.

Babafemi said Ibeh, who hails from Imo State, was found to have concealed 3.20kg black cocaine, popularly known as ‘Lucci’ in false bottoms of his two bags.

In his statement, he said he was to be paid N3.1million on successful delivery of the drug in Nigeria.

In the same vein, NDLEA operatives thwarted an attempt by a 32-year-old businesswoman, Mrs. Pamela Odin to traffic 2.150kg tablets of rohypnol through Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, to Istanbul, Turkey.

The mother of one was arrested on Friday, September 23, while attempting to board a Turkish airline flight with the drug concealed inside pepper and packed among foodstuff.

The indigene of Delta State said she operates a restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey, but came to Nigeria to see her relatives and buy food items for her restaurant business.