Nigerians were recently stunned when some neatly packed and
appetising roasted chickens, which had arrived the country from Brazil,
aboard a Turkish Airline flight from Sao Paulo, were discovered to
contain hard drugs. The drugs were concealed in the roasted chickens,
with the intention to fool security officials. It was a new way drug
traffickers devised to pull the wool on the eyes of security personnel
at the airport and bring in hard drugs.
The kingpin of the drugs syndicate, Mr. Vincent Chegini Chinweuwa,
had revealed that it took three days to package the roasted chickens for
onward transmission to Nigeria, adding: “I was confident that the drug
will not be detected. I’m surprised I’ve been caught.” A conservative
estimate of the street value of the drugs, which was impounded, was put
at about N24 million.
Airport Commandant of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
(NDLEA), at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos,
Mr. Hamza Umar, had said of this: “We discovered 2.655kg of cocaine
inside roasted chickens. It is a remarkable seizure because no one
would have imagined cocaine worth several millions inside roasted
chickens.”
Investigation revealed that drug traffickers have, indeed, devised
various new ways to bring in their merchant of death into the country.
Sometimes, they are caught. Some other times, they succeed in beating
the security dragnet at the airports and borders.
Speaking on this, Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu
Giade, said: “Drug barons are becoming more and more sophisticated in
drug concealment, as recent discoveries show. The essence of drug
concealment is to avoid detection and seizure. In order to prevent huge
financial losses, arrests and prosecution, drug barons go the extra
mile in hiding their drugs.”
Growing sophistication
Checks revealed that gone are the days when male drug traffickers
simply ingested the stuff while their female counterparts inserted it
into their private parts. The barons are now devising new ways of
packaging drugs to beat security.
Twenty six-year-old Nzeka Christian was nabbed by eagle-eyed
anti-narcotic agents at MMIA, with drugs packed in two big tins of
tomato paste. The street value of the drug was put at about N5 million.
According to Umar, “the two big tins of tomato paste, with 1.8kg of
methamphetamine, were found in Nzeka’s bag. The bag contained clothes
and foodstuff, like yams, rice, beans, garri and spaghetti. The food
items were meant to distract officers from the tomato paste.”
He added: “This is an interesting seizure, because it is not a common
place concealment. The mode is a reflection of the sophistry of drug
trafficking. I am glad that the arrest has prevented the execution of
the suspect in Malaysia.”
Interestingly, before embarking on the trip, Nzeka slept in the
church and received prayers from his pastor for a successful outing. “I
was in the Church and my pastor prayed for me for a successful trip,” he
volunteered.
Indeed, investigations revealed that many drug traffickers now seek
spiritual help before embarking on the deadly assigment. They contract
pastors, alfas and spiritualists for help.
A source disclosed: “In the desperation of drug traffickers to
succeed in their business, many of them are now going to pastors, alfas
and spiritual people so that they can pray for them not to be caught by
anti-narcotic agents at the airports or elsewhere”. It was gathered that
many clerics of different hue are actually smiling to the bank because
they are usually well renumerated by their ‘clients’. A cleric at Okota,
Lagos, is known for praying for drug traffickers and his place is
always a beehive of activities. In the same vein, an Owerri-based pastor
popularly known as Odeshi pastor (indestructible pastor) is notorious
for this. He was operating around Bongo village before his church was
pulled down recently. Another of his ilk operates at Oko-Afo in Badagry
area of Lagos.
Traffickers in illicit drugs also conceal their goods in customised
underwear and hair wigs. Recently, Miss Anene Blessing Iruoma, 26, and
Miss Obiakor Maryam Okwudili were apprehended at the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport (NAIA), Abuja for attempting to smuggle 3.6
kilogrammes of methamphetamines in their customised brassieres, pants
and hair wig. The destination of the duo was Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
where drug traffickers pay the supreme price if caught.
Susan Eneanya, 32, was caught at the MMIA with 900g of
methamphetamine hidden in the soles of a pair of shoes. When arrested,
Susan said: “I did not know that things will turn out this way. I was
given the assurance that the drug will not be detected and that
everything would be fine. I was told to ingest the drug, but I was
afraid, so it was hidden instead inside the sole of one of my shoes and I
felt it would not be detected.”
Twenty-five-year-old London-based fashion designer, Animasaun Sunbo,
was arrested during the screening of passengers on a British Airways
flight to London with 30 sachets of cocaine weighing three kilogrammes
inside two chocolate containers inside her bag.
Also, one of the new methods of drug smuggling is turning cocaine
into ice cream. Martin Ikechukwu was nabbed by NDLEA operatives at the
MMIA with 9.500kg of creamy substance that tested positive to cocaine
while returning from Sao Paulo, Brazil. The parcels containing the ‘ice
cream’ cocaine were strapped round the body of four coolers. The street
value of the drug was put at over N90 million.
Illicit drugs are also being smuggled in cooking pots. Nwokeocha
Bartholomew Chimezie, 43, an indigene of Aro-Ndizuogu, in Imo State, was
arrested at MMIA for concealing 4.1kg of heroine in cooking pots
imported from India. The suspect said: “I went to India for an eye
surgery. In the process, I met a friend who gave me the cooking pots.
He told me that it was a gift for his sister in Nigeria that just put to
bed.”
Condoms for cocaine
Drug traffickers are also putting condoms to other uses. They use it
to facilitate the ingestion of cocaine turned from powdery substance to
oily matter. Egbo Innocent Oluchukwu and Ejimbe Christian Chidi were
caught at MMIA for allegedly ingesting liquid cocaine poured into male
condoms. According to Umar: “They thought that the scanning machine will
not detect liquid cocaine, but they were wrong”.
Oluchukwu, who arrived from Tanzania, said: “The Venezuelan who gave
me the drug told me that it will be difficult for the machine to detect
liquid cocaine when ingested. I ingested 70 wraps of the drug using
water because I was desperate.”
Wine and juice
Drug cartels are equally packaging drugs like wine and juice drinks.
In other words, illicit drugs are being liquefied. Patrick Chukwuemeka
(32) was arrested at MMIA with 7.1kg of liquid cocaine valued at N63.9
million. The drug was emulsified and packaged as wine.
According to Giade: “The liquid cocaine that was first intercepted
was packaged to look like juice sent through courier service from
Trinidad and Tobago. In another case, it was difficult for the machine
to pick out the liquid form of cocaine in the tummy of the trafficker,
but our personnel were meticulous before our sophisticated machines
finally discovered it.”
Relay race
To evade arrest, drug traffickers engage in some kind of relay race.
Rather than take direct flights to their destination, they make
painstaking detour. For instance, heroin known to be trafficked from
India, Pakistan and Iran, is now coming into Nigeria through other
routes, such as Tanzania.
Source: Sun News
