Maduabuchi Chinedu, 32, was detained by officers from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja with 9.30 kilogrammes of cocaine worth over N2.7 billion.
Maduabuchi is from Obaha Okigwe village in Imo State’s Okigwe Local Government Area, but he now lives and works in Liberia as a miner.
The suspect was apprehended during an inward search of an Ethiopian Airlines flight 911 at the Abuja airport on Wednesday, according to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi.
According to the spokesman, the 9.30kg cocaine was in candy wraps and concealed in his luggage.
He added that during his preliminary interview, Chinedu claimed he left Nigeria in 2018 to settle in Liberia, where he now has a residence permit.
He further explained that economic pressure and the need to raise money to treat his mother for an eye problem led him to seek help from a friend in Liberia, adding that he was introduced to another friend based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, who eventually gave him the drug to deliver in Abuja for a fee of N1m.
He added, “He (victim) was initially scheduled to deliver the drug in Ivory Coast, but was rerouted to Nigeria at the last minute.”
The Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Marwa (retd.), hailed the efforts of the officers and men of the agency for working in synergy with other security agencies at the airport.