The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a fake couple, Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum, purportedly going for medical treatment in India for ingesting 184 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.322 kilograms.
100 grams of the drug were also concealed in the woman’s private part.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, who made the disclosure via a statement issued on Sunday, August 6, 2023, said the fake couple was arrested at the Screening Point 1, Terminal 1 of the international wing of the Lagos airport on Tuesday, August 1, while attempting to board an Ethiopian airline flight to India.
Babafemi added: “Though their travel documents show consistency in their names and depict them as a couple, an NDLEA officer however decided to subject them to body scan. The scan confirmed they both ingested drugs as a result of which they were later placed on excretion observation at the Agency’s facility.
“While their travel documents identify the man as Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and the lady to be Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum, preliminary investigation revealed that the intending passengers were not a couple but obtained the travel documents in the same surname to beat security checks at the airport. The lady later gave her real name as Ngogbike Nkechi.
“During her interview, she confessed that she was recruited in her church in Aba, Abia state where she lives. The suspect, Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum (aka Ngogbike Nkechi) stated further that she is a divorcee, and that Kingsley with whom she was travelling is not her husband but connected only for the purpose of the illicit drug business trip.
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“She revealed that her arranged husband, Kingsley brought the pellets of cocaine to her in her room to ingest in the hotel where they were both lodged in separate rooms the previous day Monday 31st July.
“After their arrest, a thorough search conducted on her led to the discovery of a big size wrap of cocaine that weighed 100 grams she inserted into her private part. She confessed that she was promised $5,000 upon successful delivery of the drug in India.”
The NDLEA spokesman stated that Kingsley, who was into clothing business in Onitsha, Anambra State, in his own statement, claimed he was promised $2,000 after a successful delivery of the drug in India.
He noted that a further search of the NDLEA’s crime database revealed that Kingsley also obtained his travel documents with fake identity for the trip.
Babafemi added: “It was established that he was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja on 19th March 2022 for ingesting 100 wraps of cocaine weighing 2.243kgs upon his arrival from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on board an Ethiopian airline flight. His travel documents then contained his real name: Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian.
“After his arrest at the Abuja airport on 19th March 2022 along with another suspect, Iro Elvis Uche who also ingested 65 wraps of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.376kgs, Uwaezuoke was subsequently arraigned before Justice Zainab Abubakar of the Federal High Court Abuja with charge number: FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2022. He was eventually granted bail by the court pending the conclusion of his trial. He is still on the court bail when he was arrested at the Lagos airport for a similar offence on Tuesday 1st August.
“While Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi (aka Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian) excreted a total of 82 wraps of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.822kgs in five excretions, Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum (aka Ngogbike Nkechi) egested 101 wraps in four excretions with a bid size wrap of the substance recovered from her private part, all weighing 1.50kgs.”
In his reaction to the seizures and arrests, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), commended the officers for their diligence, vigilance, and professionalism in the discharge of their responsibilities.
Marwa also charged them and their compatriots across the country not to rest on their oars.
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