Lady arrested after friend plants drug in luggage

A lady has become a guest of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) after her who promised to take her to Dubai, planted a drug, Cannabis Sativa in one of her luggage.

Maureen

Sandra

The lady, Obidike Ugochukwu Maureen, said she never knew her friend; Ebere Ohakwe Sandra could set her.

Maureen said: “My friend did not tell me she had drugs in the luggage she checked in on my name. She told me that it was all foodstuffs but it turned out to be cannabis. I feel very sad.”

Sandra on the other hand, confessed that she wanted to take the parcel of drugs out of Nigeria for her travelling agent who promised to give her free visa.

The drug, weighing 19.8kg, were about to be exported to Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE) when the ladies were arrested.

The arrest took place at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos during the screening of passengers on an Etihad flight to Dubai. The drug was concealed in foodstuff and local alcoholic beverage called Alomo Bitters.

The NDLEA commander at the Lagos Airport, Mr. Hamza Umar, while confirming the arrest, said that the case was under investigation. He however added that 78 parcels of dried weed were discovered in the luggage of Maureen.

Sandra who lives and sells foodstuff in Dubai, said her travel agent told her to smuggle cannabis in exchange for her visa.

Sandra said: “I used to export foodstuff to Dubai since 2012. Each time I go to Dubai, I stay for two months and come back because I have no permanent visa. I came to Nigeria since December 2014 to spend the Christmas and New Year at home. While I was preparing to go back, my travel agent in Dubai called me that somebody will give me a parcel to take to him. My first question was that I hope it is not cocaine, and he said that it was not cocaine but weed and that it was not something serious. He also promised me that if I could take it to him; he would prepare my next visa for free. I agreed to take it.”

Sandra, a 2010 graduate of Economics at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology also confessed that she implicated her friend.

Her words: “Maureen is my friend. We met in Port Harcourt and had been chatting always. She told me she would like to visit Dubai to buy clothes because she sells female clothes. We concluded that we would both travel to Dubai when I’m returning in January 2015. Since she had only hand luggage, I decided to check in some of my luggage in her name because I had 80kg and did not want to pay the excess charge. Unfortunately, NDLEA discovered drugs in the luggage I checked in her name and we were both arrested. I regret accepting to take the drug.”