A 27-year-old man has been arrested after operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) allegedly found cocaine hidden inside a wrap of fufu on a boat heading from Akwa Ibom State towards Cameroon.
According to a statement by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi on Sunday, the suspect, Kingsley John, was arrested alongside two other men during the interception of the wooden boat on Friday, the agency said in a statement on Sunday.
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The boat was allegedly heading towards Ine Isu, Ine Mbah and Ine Ikot Itie Udung, fishing ports in Cameroon.
NDLEA noted that Mr John had 20 grammes of cocaine concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava flour. He was also carrying 435 grammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis.
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The two other suspects were identified as Etima Effiong Eekpo, 29, and Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, 33.
The agency said Mr Eekpo was found with 1.12kg of skunk, while Mr Etukudoh had 42.06kg.
In total, 42.622kg of illicit drugs was recovered from the three men.
The interception followed intelligence on the movement of the boat towards the fishing settlements in Cameroon, according to the agency.
The operation comes days after the NDLEA announced the seizure of 184.5kg of cocaine worth about N39 billion in Lagos.
That consignment, valued at about $27.7 million, was intercepted while being processed for export through a courier company, the agency said.
The seizure led to the arrest of two suspected members of an international drug trafficking network, including Afolabi Kazeem Michael, popularly known as KC Luxury.
The NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa, described Mr Michael as the Nigerian “arrowhead” of the alleged syndicate.
Mr Michael, a businessman and social media personality, was arrested on 13 August at the boarding gate of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, where he was about to board a business-class flight to Paris, according to Mr Marwa.
Operatives allegedly recovered €7,750, £2,800 and N100,000 in cash, as well as jewellery, from him.
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The agency also searched his apartment on Banana Island, Lagos, where it said exotic vehicles and other assets were recovered.
Mr Marwa, a retired brigadier general, stated that the investigation showed that the syndicate allegedly moved cocaine from South America through Nigeria to the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia.
He said investigators were working with foreign counterparts and that some members of the network had already been arrested abroad.
The NDLEA explained that the Akwa Ibom operation was part of its efforts to stop Nigeria’s waterways from being used to move illicit drugs across national borders.
Mr Marwa commended the officers involved and urged them to sustain the crackdown on drug trafficking.
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