A 37-year-old mother of three, Ezeh Ifeoma Maureen, has been
arrested with substances suspected to be cannabis by the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
She was caught at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport
(MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos, during outward
screening of China-bound Ethiopian Airlines’ passengers for allegedly
attempting to smuggle 6.200 kilogrammes of dried weeds that tested positive for
cannabis.
The agency’s Airport Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, said the
suspect told the officers that her bags contained vegetables and foodstuff.
“She declared the content of her bags as vegetables and
foodstuff, but during a search, the vegetables turned out to be cannabis
weighing 6.200 kilogrammes. The drug was
packed in two parcels.”
The suspect, who hails from Anambra State, said: “I am a
business woman; I sell women’s clothes at the Onitsha main market. I usually
export foodstuff to China and import female dresses to Nigeria. One of my
customers in China called to tell me that his brother would give me two parcels
of vegetables to bring to him. I collected the parcels at the airport from the
boy. Unfortunately, when they tested them, I was told that they contained
cannabis.”
Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, advised the
public to learn from the cases of those arrested for drug trafficking. “This
mother of three children would have been killed in China for drug trafficking
if she was not apprehended here. It is important for the public to learn from
her experience and shun drug trafficking,” he said.
Giade warned passengers not to collect items from people,
who will not be there during a search.
The suspect, Giade said, would be charged to court for
unlawful possession of, and attempt to export cannabis.
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