A 44-year-old man, Gabriel Anthony, egested 96 pellets of cocaine after he was intercepted at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi says.

The suspect, who was arrested during an outward clearance of Turkish Airlines en route Abuja-Istanbul-Madrid, excreted the drug pellets while in the custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr Babafemi said.

The spokesman noted that Mr Anthony, who hails from Enugu State, was arrested on Friday, November 26.

According to him, the suspect had travelled to Germany in 1996 for two years on asylum after which he relocated to Spain in 1999.

“Spain is where he currently holds a residence permit and works as a driver in a food manufacturing company.

“He claimed he came into Nigeria on November 17 to sell clothes and car spare parts he shipped to Lagos earlier.

“He, however, said he could not sell his consignments which cost him €4,000 excluding the cost of shipment because they were priced below the cost price at Ladipo market in Lagos.

“He needed to travel back to Spain to resume work after the expiration of his annual leave,” he said.

Mr Babafemi added that the suspect confessed to having accepted the offer to traffic the drug for which he would be paid €1,500 when he successfully delivers the consignment to someone in Spain.

Mr Babafemi said the suspect claimed he left Lagos for Enugu to see his family members and then travelled on November 25 to Onitsha in Anambra.

“He was picked up from Upper Iweka park at night and taken to a house where he was given the 96 pellets of cocaine.

“Thereby ingesting before leaving for Abuja to board his flight to Madrid the following day,” he added.