The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Chadian lady, Vivien Tarmadji, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for alleged trafficking of 234.35 grammes of substance suspected to be heroin. 

The agency said she was arrested while boarding a flight en route Addis Ababa to Italy with the substance concealed in her private part. The agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja. 

Mr Babafemi noted that the trafficker “who runs a salon business in Italy since 2016 upon her relocation to the country via Libya was arrested by vigilant narcotics agents during an outward clearance of the airline at the boarding gate after being scanned. 

“Under interrogation, she claimed she was contacted by a man who called her from Italy to collect the drug from one man. 

“The said man delivered the illicit substance to her in a hotel she lodged in Lagos early in the morning before she took her flight to Abuja the same day for onward journey to Italy. 

“She further claimed that the man brought 50 wraps of the substance for her to swallow but she couldn’t. She decided to insert 18 wraps into her private part and returned the remaining to the man that brought them to her in the hotel. 

“She said she came into Nigeria to raise money to pay for her house and shop rents which had expired in Italy, as life has been so difficult since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“She said the owner of the drug was to pay her €10,000 on successful delivery of the drug to Italy.”

Mr Babafemi also said that another trafficker, Okojie James, from Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State has been arrested while boarding a Turkish Airline flight en route Abuja-Istanbul-Cyprus. 

He said that a number of illicit drugs intercepted are 1.549 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa, 223.80 grammes of Tramadol, 192.34 grammes of Rohypnol and 214.05 grammes of Flunitrazepam that were concealed in tins and packed in a bag of foodstuff. 

“During interrogation, he claimed his friend, Mr Elvis, who resides in Cyprus asked him to collect the luggage for him. 

“He said Mr Elvis’ sister sent the luggage to him in Abuja from Benin through a transport company,” Mr Babafemi revealed.

Commander of the Abuja Command of the NDLEA at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Kabir Tsakuwa, said while Mr James was arrested last Saturday, Ms Vivien was arrested on March 23, noting that both suspects would soon face prosecution.

(NAN)