The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has smashed a notorious drug trafficking cell operating in the country with stronghold in Pakistan. As part of its plan to financially incapacitate their businesses and repatriate the illicit proceeds from their drug deals, the anti-narcotic agency has also sealed off two boutiques in Lagos and other valuable assets including a posh utility vehicle belonging to the suspected drug barons.
All four suspected members of the cartel including a clearing and forwarding agent at the Lagos airport as well as three business men believed to be the brain behind the illicit drug trafficking gang are being detained by the Agency. They were arrested on Friday January 22, 2010 in connection with the unlawful importation of 2.4 kilogrammes of heroin from Lahore, Pakistan. The estimated street value of the drug is about 23 million naira.
The consignment of garments and sports goods with airway bill number 176- 1503 6324 was sent in an Emirate flight. In the airway bill, it was marked a sample shipment with no commercial value but buried right inside it were six parcels of powdery substance found to be heroin weighing 2.4kg. The crackdown has exposed the key players of the criminal act who hitherto had used boutique business as a ruse in smuggling illicit drugs. All suspects involved in the illicit transaction from the barons to the clearing agent are being detained by anti-drug agents.
In his reaction, Chairman/Chief Executive officer of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade vowed to unveil drug barons with more offensive in the offing. Giade commended the officers over what he described as ‘proactive and thorough investigation’. According to the NDLEA boss, “this is a model case where officers displayed a rare investigative dexterity. All parties to the crime were successfully arrested. Several other cases under intense surveillance are near completion and more barons shall be unveiled. My operational promise to Nigerians is that they will soon know those behind the illicit trade and also see them brought to book”.
A team of investigators has moved in to speedily complete investigation into the case preparatory to the arraignment of all suspects. The NDLEA commander at the Murtalla Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Alhaji Hamza Umar gave the name of the clearing and forwarding agent to be Andrew Omoigui, 38, while other suspected drug barons are Monday Paul Edeh, 38 a.ka. Molue, Chidi Ugbaja,33, and Marcel Chibueze Udeze, 36. Similarly, preliminary findings by the anti-narcotic body have linked the suspects to a notorious drug trafficking cell operating in the country with affiliates in Pakistan.
The suspected kingpin of the drug syndicate, Marcel Chibueze Udeze was equally found to have been deported from China twice. He conspired with Chidi Ugbaja who once lived in China and Monday Paul Edeh to import the drug. Andrew was said to have demanded for the sum of one million naira to clear the goods having been told that the consignment contained heroin. The money was however paid into his bank account. Andrew is a senior clearing and forwarding agent with over 14 years experience. Other members of the cell operate boutique business as a cover-up.
If convicted by the law court, the accused persons could spend 25 years each in prison custody under the NDLEA Act.
