Brazil-based businessman nabbed with ingested cocaine at Lagos airport

The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a Brazil-based businessman, Ezeokoli Sylva, with 700 grams of cocaine buried in his stomach at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in the Ikeja area of Lagos State.

The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, December 1, 2024.

Babafemi stated that 59-year-old Ezeokoli, who has spent 35 years in Brazil, was arrested at the E-Arrival hall of the Lagos airport upon his return from Sao Paulo in Brazil on an Ethiopia Airlines flight via Addis Ababa on Friday, November 29.

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Babafemi said when the businessman was taken for a body scan, the result confirmed that the suspect had foreign objects concealed in his stomach.

The NDLEA spokesman noted: “As a result, he was placed under excretion observation during which he expelled 29 wraps of substances that tested positive for cocaine weighing 700 grams.

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“In his statement, the suspect claimed he operates an African store in Brazil where he sells provisions, shoes and clothes. He added that he bought the illicit consignment in Sao Paulo to resell in Nigeria with a view to raising substantial capital to boost his business.”

Babafemi added that the NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Investigation and General Investigation (DOGI), on Tuesday, November 26, intercepted two consignments containing cocaine and pentazocine injection going to the United Kingdom via a courier company in Lagos.

He stated that the cocaine weighing 200 grams was concealed in local fabrics, while 40 ampoules of pentazocine injection weighing 110 grams were hidden in cartons.

While commending the anti-narcotic officers for the arrest and seizures, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), stated that their operational successes across the country, especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts, were well appreciated.

The Star