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Operatives the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have arrested a wanted drug lord, Okpara Paul Chigozie, who had been on the run for seven years.
The Director, Media & Advocacy of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, said the 60-year-old drug kingpin was arrested while attempting to ship 11.6kg cocaine and methamphetamine to the Southeast and other parts of the country.
In the statement, Babafemi said Okpara who has been on the wanted list of the agency since 2019, was nabbed at his hideout at 72 Micheal Ojo Street, Isheri in Ojo area of Lagos State on Sunday July 13, following the interception of some of his consignments at Ilasamaja along Apapa-Oshodi expressway.
“In the early morning operation, a team of NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence, arrested one of Okpara’s couriers, 51-year-old Achebe Kenneth Nnamdi while heading to Onitsha, Anambra state in a white Toyota Sienna vehicle,” the agency spokesman said.
“The agency’s sniffer dogs were subsequently brought in to search the vehicle after which 7.6 kilograms of cocaine and 900 grams of methamphetamine were found hidden in body compartments of the space bus.
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“A follow up operation was promptly carried out at Okpara’s hideout in Isheri where additional 1.8kg cocaine and 1.3kg methamphetamine were recovered from his residence,” he said.
Also speaking on other arrests made by the NDLEA operatives, Babafemi said an Italy-bound passenger, Omoregie Nice Uyiosa, was apprehended on Wednesday July 16, while boarding a plane to Italy via Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight.
‘At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos, NDLEA operatives in a joint operation with Aviation Security personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on Wednesday 16th July recovered 7,790 pills of tramadol and rohypnol from the luggage of an Italy-bound passenger, Omoregie Nice Uyiosa,” Babafemi said.
“The suspect who was going to Italy via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines flight claimed he purchased the drugs himself, hoping to sell them in Italy at higher prices.”
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