A businesswoman, Olayinka Adisa, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for ingesting 80 pellets of cocaine.

A Saudi Arabia-bound passenger, Ms Adisa was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while ostensibly on her way to perform Umrah (lesser Hajj).

NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, stated on Monday that Ms Adisa, 46, lives in Ibafo, Ogun State and hails from Ilorin.

“She was arrested on Wednesday, November 24 at the boarding screening area of the airport during an outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight 1418.

“She was subsequently taken into custody where she excreted 80 pellets of the illicit drug between Wednesday and Saturday.

“She claimed during interrogation that she saved N2.5 million over a period of one year to buy the drugs in bits from six different people at Akala, Mushin area of Lagos,” Mr Babafemi said.

Mr Babafemi added that the suspect said she was trading in clothes but had to borrow one million naira from three persons to make up the money used to buy the drugs.

“She spent another one million naira to renew her passport, obtain a visa and buy return flight tickets.

“She said she was encouraged to traffic the drugs by a woman she met during her last Umrah trip to Saudi Arabia in 2019.

“She said she needed to raise seven million naira for In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment due to pressure from people. She’s been married for 28 years without a child due to fertility challenges,” Mr Babafemi added.

Meanwhile, another trafficker, Inusa Abdulrazaki, was arrested with 101 wraps of heroin weighing 1.3 kilogrammes on Friday, November 19.

Mr Abdulrazaki was arrested at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on his way to Italy via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines.

“The drugs were concealed inside cassava flour popularly called garri.

“On November 20, NDLEA operatives at the airport intercepted an abandoned consignment of 17.90kg khat,” Mr Babafemi also stated. 

(NAN)