Emmanuel Okafor Junior, a former football player, was apprehended by agents from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, as he arrived from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on a flight operated by Ethiopian Airlines, carrying 1.40 kilogrammes of crack cocaine.
Anti-narcotic officers discovered the 33-year-old Arochukwu Local Government Area, Abia State native had concealed the illegal substance in the handles of his bags and had padded the top edges of the bags when they found him on Monday, September 26, 2022.
The spokesperson for the anti-graft agency, Femi Babafemi, noted in a statement on Sunday that Okafor revealed during a preliminary interview that he was a former football player with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu FC, where he played for four seasons before departing for Sri Lanka in 2014.
“He further stated that he moved to Brazil from Sri Lanka after playing for two seasons but could not advance his football career in Brazil due to lack of official documents.
“Another Brazilian returnee, Ibeh Chinedu, was arrested same day upon his arrival at the Lagos airport from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via an Ethiopian airlines flight. Ibeh, who hails from Ahiazu, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, was found to have concealed 3.20kg black cocaine popularly known as ‘Lucci’ in false bottoms of his two bags. In his statement, he said he was to be paid N3,100,000 on successful delivery of the drug in Nigeria.” Babafemi said.
The statement added that an attempt by a 32-year-old businesswoman, Mrs Pamela Odin, to traffic 2.150kg tablets of rohypnol through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to Istanbul, Turkey, was thwarted by NDLEA operatives.
The mother of one was arrested on Friday, September 23, while attempting to board a Turkish airline flight with the drug concealed inside pepper and packed among foodstuffs.
The indigene of Afiesere village, Ughelli North LGA, Delta State, reportedly said she operated a restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey, but came to Nigeria to see her relatives and buy food items for her restaurant business.
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