The suspect said he got into drug trafficking to raise funds for his business.
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an ex-convict, Onyeka Madukolu, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for importing 5.90 kilograms of cocaine concealed in cans of deodorants and ladies’ lip gloss into Nigeria.
The agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday said the ‘businessman’ had served a seven-year jail sentence in Ethiopia for drug peddling and was released from prison in 2020.
Mr Babafemi said the suspect was arrested on his return from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
A video posted by Mr Babafemi showed the moment NDLEA officers at the airport uncovered the illicit drug.
“During preliminary interview, he claimed to have gone into the drug business to raise fresh capital to start a legitimate business after his release from Ethiopian prison in 2020,” the statement read.
“The father of two kids, one each from a Nigerian woman and a Brazilian lady, said he was into motor spare parts business before going into the criminal trade.
“The 44-year-old indigene of Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State said he was expecting to be paid N2 million on successful delivery of the illicit drug in Nigeria.”
Mr Babafemi also said that a freight agent, Lawal Adeyemi was arrested at the airport “for attempting to export some sachets of lexotan among other non-controlled drugs to Liberia.”
He also confirmed the arrest of one Qasim Ademola, “a producer of new psychoactive substance, popularly called Akuskura.”
He said the suspect had 26, 600 bottles of the illicit substance meant for distribution across northern states.