A Chadian lady, Vivien Tarmadji, has been arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), while trying to board an Ethiopian airline flight 911 en route Addis Ababa-Italy with 234.35 grammes of heroin concealed in her private part.
The Director, Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, in a statement, said the trafficker, who has run a salon business in Italy since 2016 upon her relocation to the country via Libya, was nabbed by vigilant narcotics agents during an outward clearance of the airline at the boarding gate after being scanned.
Under interrogation, she claimed she was contacted by a man who called her from Italy to collect the drug from one man who delivered the illicit substance to her in a hotel where she lodged in Lagos early in the morning before she took her flight to Abuja same day for onward journey to Italy.
She further claimed that the man brought 50 wraps of heroin for her to swallow but she couldn’t and then she decided to insert 18 wraps into her private part and return the remaining to the man that brought the drug to her in the hotel.
According to her, she came to Nigeria to raise money to pay for her house and shop rents which had expired in Italy, as life has been so difficult since the coming in of COVID-19 pandemic.
She said the owner of the drug was to pay her 10,000 Euros on successful delivery of the drug to Italy.
Another trafficker, Okojie James from Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State, was also arrested while boarding a Turkish airline flight en route Abuja-Istanbul-Cyprus.
A number of illicit drugs, including 1.549kg of Cannabis Sativa; 223.80 grammes of Tramadol; 192.34 grammes of Rohypnol; 214.05 grammes of Flunitrazepam, all of which were concealed in tins of beverage and milk packed in a bag of foodstuff, were recovered from him, the statement said.
During interrogation, he claimed his friend, one Mr Elvis who resides in Cyprus, asked him to collect the luggage for him.
According to him, Elvis’ sister sent the luggage to him in Abuja from Benin through a transport company. He said he was into shawarma and noodles business in Benin before Elvis invited him to Cyprus, claiming that he got him admission to school there.
Nigerian Tribune
