Herbal Tea Businessman Behind Cocaine Shipments To Saudi Arabia Arrested In Lagos

Herbal Tea Businessman Behind Cocaine Shipments To Saudi Arabia Arrested In Lagos

By Ada Ononye

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a convicted cocaine trafficker disguising himself as a herbal tea businessman.

The anti-narcotics officers also intercepted a 20,000-litre fuel tanker fitted with a concealed compartment for illicit drugs, and recovered large quantities of cannabis, tramadol, methamphetamine and other controlled substances in coordinated operations across nine states.

The operations were carried out in Lagos, Adamawa, Ondo, Kaduna, Bauchi, Ekiti, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu states.

The arrest of the suspected cocaine trafficker followed the interception on July 31 of 1.2 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in phone chargers and destined for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, through a courier company in Lagos.

The NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi said operatives of its Directorate of Operations and General Investigation tracked the alleged mastermind through an intelligence-led operation.

The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu, was arrested in a sting operation at Article Market, opposite Trade Fair Market in Ojo, Lagos, on Friday, September 4, while posing as a herbal tea businessman.

The agency said Ebubechukwu admitted being behind previous illicit drug shipments and told investigators he discarded his telephone SIM card after learning that his latest consignment had been intercepted.

Further investigation revealed that Ebubechukwu had previously been arrested by the NDLEA in 2011 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, after ingesting 900 grammes of cocaine and 130 grammes of heroin while attempting to travel to Austria under the name Dunu Chukwuyenre Enoch.

He was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.

The NDLEA said he subsequently changed his name to Dunu Bethel Ebubechukwu and returned to drug trafficking.

A search of his residence at Number 6 Yemishola Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, on Friday, September 4, led to the recovery of phone chargers similar to those used to conceal the intercepted cocaine. Their internal components had been removed to create spaces for drugs.

At the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, valued at more than ₦1.1 billion, concealed among second-hand trousers in a 21-carton consignment from Pakistan.

They also recovered 57.80 kilogrammes of Loud, a strain of cannabis valued at more than ₦173 million, hidden inside cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore.

The consignment had remained unclaimed for weeks before a joint examination by NDLEA officers, Customs and other security agencies on Thursday, September 3.

In Ondo State, a 20,000-litre fuel tanker, marked MKA 960 XC, which the agency said had previously evaded arrest, was intercepted along the Akoko-Lokoja expressway on Friday, September 4.

The NDLEA said its officers pursued the tanker after the driver refused to stop.

The driver later abandoned the vehicle on church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled into the bush.

A search 0revealed a false compartment containing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145 kilogrammes alongside the tanker’s legitimate fuel cargo destined for Jos, Plateau State.

At Tincan Port in Lagos, another 598.08 kilogrammes — comprising 890 packets — of cannabis-infused cookies and gummies were intercepted in a 40-foot container on Wednesday, September 2.

The NDLEA linked the consignment to three suspects — Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi and Joseph Moji — who were arrested about a month earlier following the seizure of 842.54 kilogrammes of cannabis-laced cookies at the port.

In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Damilu and Jambutu axis of Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area, recovered 864,000 opioid pills, mainly tramadol, from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect, Patrick KC Frank, on Friday, September 4.

The agency said Frank escaped after his Honda Civic car rammed an NDLEA patrol vehicle.

In another operation in the Michika area of the state, 35-year-old Calistus Ebubechukwu, described by the agency as a major supplier of methamphetamine from Lagos to the Mubi and Michika axis, was arrested on Friday with two kilogrammes of the substance.

Attahiru Hussaini was also intercepted at Namtari checkpoint in Mubi on Monday, August 31, with 750,027,530 pills of tramadol and other opioids concealed in a soap-laden Ford Galaxy bus marked JJM-953XD.

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives recovered 2,386.9 kilogrammes of cannabis, 350 grammes of cocaine, more than 100 kilogrammes of assorted grades of tramadol, 9.7 litres of codeine syrup and four kilogrammes of Rohypnol in the Gbaji area on Friday, September 4.

Two suspects, Damilare Francis and Emeh Emmanuel, were also arrested with 720 kilogrammes of cannabis in the Agbara area.

In Kogi State, three suspects — Saidu Mustapha, 35; Zaharadeen Salisu, 29; and AbdulSalam Abdullahi, 25 — were arrested along the Okene-Lokoja highway with 636 kilogrammes of cannabis concealed in chicken manure.

The bus was travelling from Owo in Ondo State to Jos, Plateau State.

In Taraba State, 58-year-old Kelechi Unachukwu was arrested along the Zaki-Biam road in Wukari Local Government Area with more than 109 kilogrammes of tramadol, diazepam, pentazocine, phenobarbital, Exol-5, nitrazepam, bromazepam and pregabalin.

The substances were being transported in his Toyota Corolla, marked KUJ-333BT, from Onitsha in Anambra State to Yola, Adamawa State.

In Kaduna State, a truck carrying bags of cement was intercepted along the Zaria-Kano expressway, where NDLEA operatives recovered 1,179 kilogrammes of skunk.

In Bauchi State, 25-year-old Hamza Dahiru was arrested in a follow-up operation linked to the seizure of 322.5 kilogrammes of cannabis at Deba town in Gombe State on Tuesday, September 1.

In Ekiti State, Chuks Alex, 50, and Asafa Adekunle, 35, were arrested after NDLEA operatives uncovered and destroyed a four-hectare cannabis farm in the Efon-Alaaye forest.

The agency also recovered 117 kilogrammes of already-harvested skunk from the location.

And in Enugu State, 20-year-old Obinna David was arrested at Ugbema Junction on Saturday, September 5, with 40,590 capsules of tramadol.

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Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu