A drug trafficker, Goodluck Odeh, has been intercepted at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, in possession of two kilogrammes of heroin with a street value of N564 million.

A statement by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) spokesperson Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, said the heroin was found concealed in the lining of a false bottom on his suitcase.

NDLEA identified the 40-year-old suspect as hailing from Ikpoba Okha Local Government, Edo State.

According to the agency, Mr Odeh was arrested at the departure lounge of the airport during an outward clearance of Ethiopian aircraft 911 en route Addis Ababa to Italy.

“Under interrogation, Mr Odeh claimed he has been living in Italy since 2015 when he got into the country through Libya.

“I work as a labourer on a farm in Italy with a pay of about 50 Euros a day. I also work as a flyer distributor when the farming season is over and I make as much as 50 Euros per day.

“I came to Nigeria over two weeks ago to see my family in Nigeria and also use same opportunity to buy foodstuffs to sell on my return to Italy.

“After spending some days between Edo and Delta where I bought some foodstuffs, I equally travelled to Lagos to buy part of the foodstuffs and bush meat, which is cheaper.

“I did not know how the drug found its way into the bag as I bought the suitcase from a second-hand material market in Lagos not knowing that it contained the drug,” Mr Odeh told operatives of the agency.

When further asked of the market address, he said he didn’t know the address.

Mr Odeh also said he was accompanied to the market by a man he claimed he met the day he arrived in Lagos from Benin.

“I came into Abuja from Lagos for onward trip to Italy,” the agency quoted Mr Odeh as saying.

The airport commander of NDLEA,  Kabir Sani Tsakuwa, said a case had already been filed against the suspect, while investigations were ongoing to explore other leads on the case.