Nov. 30, 2021
A businesswoman heading to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Umrah (Lesser Hajj) has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja for ingesting 80 pellets of cocaine.
The 46-year-old Mrs. Adisa Afusat Olayinka who lives in Ibafo, Ogun state hails from Ilorin, in Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara state. She was arrested on Wednesday 24th November at the boarding screening area of the airport during an outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight 1418.
In a statement by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy of the agency, she was subsequently taken into custody where she excreted 80 pellets of the illicit drug between Wednesday and Saturday, 27th Nov.
She claimed during interviews that she saved N2.5million over a period of one year to buy the drugs in bits from six different people at Akala, Mushin area of Lagos. The suspect further said she was trading in clothes but had to borrow N1million from three persons to make up the money used to buy the drugs, adding that she spent another N1million to renew her passport, visa and buy return flight tickets.
She said she was encouraged to traffic the drugs by a woman she met during her last Umrah trip to Saudi Arabia in 2019. She added that she needed to raise N7million for In Vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment due to pressure from people because shes been married for 28 years without a child due to fertility challenges.
The drugs were concealed inside cassava flour popularly called gari. The following day Saturday 20th Nov, NDLEA operatives at the airport during a routine cargo search at NAHCO export shed intercepted an abandoned consignment of khat 17.90kg.
While commending the officers and men of the NAIA and MMIA commands for their vigilance and steadfastness, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa urged them to always stay two steps ahead of the drug cartels.
