Operatives of the anti-drug agency, at the Mur-tala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja, Lagos, arrested a 35-year-old Pakistani with the parcels of brownish powdery substances tested positive for heroin hidden inside his hand luggage.
According to the NDLEA airport commander, Mr Hamza Umar, the suspect, Syed Waseem Ahmed Buhari, with Pakistani international passport number BT3347071, arrived aboard a Qatar Airways flight.
“A 35-year-old Pakistani was apprehended following the discovery of 13 kilogrammes of high grade heroin in his hand luggage.
“A Nigerian clearing and forwarding agent, Okereke Benjamin Chukwudi, 42, who is suspected to be an accomplice, has also been arrested and investigation had commenced,” Hamza said.
Syed, an electrical engineer, who hails from Karachi and believed to be working for a Pakistani-based drug cartel, was found to have travelled from Karachi to Abu Dhabi aboard Pakistan Airline flight, before taking Qatar airways flight through Doha to Lagos.
The suspected Nigerian accomplice, Chukwudi, who hails from Ekulobia, Anambra State, was cooperating with narcotic investigators.
NDLEA boss added that the arrest of the Pakistani, few days after three Bolivians were caught in a suspected case of
methamphetamine production, was a demonstration of the agency’s resolve to bring drug traffickers to justice.
The NDLEA boss commended the officers for the arrest and urged them to remain dedicated to duty at all times.
Both suspects, according to Hamza, would be charged to court soon.
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