National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Operatives have arrested a fake couple, Kingsley and Roseline Ilonzeh, for ingesting 184 wraps of cocaine.

 NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement on Sunday in Abuja that the suspected drug traffickers were purportedly going for medical treatment in India.

 Mr Babafemi said the drugs weighed 3.322 kg, while another 100 grammes were concealed in the woman’s private part.

 He said the two suspects were intercepted at Screening Point 1, Terminal 1 of the international wing of the Lagos airport on August 1 while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to India.

 Mr Babafemi further said that though their travel documents showed consistency in their names and depicted them as a couple, an NDLEA officer decided to subject them to a body scan.

He said the scan confirmed that the couple had ingested drugs, which resulted in them being placed on excretion observation at the agency’s facility.

 ”Their travel documents identify the man as Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi and the lady as Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum,

 “Preliminary investigation reveals that the intending passengers are not a couple but obtained the travel documents with the same surname to beat security checks at the airport.

 “The lady later gave her real name as Ngogbike Nkechi. During the interview, she confessed that she was recruited by her church in Aba, Abia, where she lives.

 “The suspect, Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum (aka Ngogbike Nkechi), states further that she is a divorcee and that Kingsley, with whom she is travelling, is not her husband but connected only for the purpose of the illicit drug business trip.

“She said that Kingsley, her arranged husband, brought the pellets of cocaine to ingest her in the hotel where they both lodged in separate rooms on July 31,” he said.

 The NDLEA spokesperson said after their arrest, a thorough search conducted on her led to the discovery of a large wrap of cocaine that weighed 100 grammes, which she inserted into her private part.

 He said the suspected drug trafficker confessed that she was promised $5,000 upon successfully delivering the drug in India.

Mr Babafemi said in his statement that Mr Kingsley, who was in the clothing business in Onitsha, Anambra, claimed he was promised $2,000 after successfully delivering the drug in India.

 “A further search of the agency’s crime database reveals that Kingsley also obtained his travel documents with a fake identity for the trip.

 “Indeed, it has been established that he was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja on March 19, 2022, for ingesting 100 wraps of cocaine weighing 2.243 kg upon his arrival from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on board an Ethiopian airline flight.

 “His travel documents then contained his real name: Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian,” he said.

 He noted that after his arrest at the Abuja airport on March 19, 2022, with another suspect, Iro Elvis Uche, who also ingested 65 wraps of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.376 kg, Mr Uwaezuoke was subsequently arraigned.

 Mr Babafemi said he was arraigned before Justice Zainab Abubakar of the Abuja Division of Federal High Court with charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2022, and the suspect was eventually granted bail by the court, pending the conclusion of his trial.

 ”He was still on court bail when he was arrested at the Lagos airport for a similar offence on August 1.

 “Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi (aka Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian) excreted a total of 82 wraps of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.822 kg in five excretions.

 “Ilonzeh Roseline Nonyelum (aka Ngogbike Nkechi) ingested 101 wraps in four excretions with a big wrap of the substance recovered from her private part, all weighing 1.50 kg,” he said.

(NAN)