‘I swallowed 70 wraps of cocaine in seven hours’

Okonkwo

A 39-year-old suspected drug trafficker, Celestine Ikechukwu Okonkwo has narrated his ordeal in the hands of a drug baron who sponsored his trip to Brazil under the guise of white collar job.
Okonkwo, a secondary school dropout, married and father of a girl, said that he met the mysterious stranger who sponsored him to Brazil and before he knew it, he was learning how to swallow wraps of cocaine for money in a dinghy hotel.
According to him, after suffering untold hardship in Brazil, scales had fallen off his eyes and he now knows that Nigeria is a blessed nation. His words: “God bless Nigeria! There is no poverty here except a person chooses to be poor.”
Okonkwo who used to sell fairly used clothes at Idumota Market said that he was promised a mouth-watering job opportunity in Brazil, but was made to suffer untold hardship before being initiated into smuggling cocaine. Okonkwo explained that he was a happy man until a drug baron approached him with a promise of a better job overseas. Recalling that day like it was yesterday, Okonkwo said he was in his shop at Idumota Market, when he had the unexpected visitor. He said: “I’ll never forget the day a young man came to my shop to buy shirt. He told me he is from Anambra State and that he lives in Brazil.
He also promised to help me with a good job opportunity over there. Honestly, I was excited. I felt it was answer to my age long prayer. He collected my phone number and left. That was how it all started.” Okonkwo recalled that after three months, the man called him that he was back to Nigeria. The mysterious stranger, like a Father Christmas, told him that he had prepared an international passport and also secured a visa for him. “He told me to get set to travel any time. A few weeks later, he brought my ticket and I travelled to Brazil in January 2015.
He gave me the name of the hotel where I would stay pending when he would get me a job. I was eventually abandoned to suffer. When I exhausted my money, I began to sleep in a church. I also began to work for a Nigerian woman who owns a restaurant in order not to starve to death,” stated Okonkwo. The suspect also stated that drug trafficking was not originally discussed with him before he left Nigeria. His word: “Nobody discussed drug trafficking with me while in Nigeria.
It was after I had lived in the church for some months that my sponsor located me in Sau Paulo. I was told that there was no free lunch in Brazil and that I have suffered and experienced difficult life in Brazil.
This was the point they introduced drug trafficking as the only way out. They said that was what people do to make money. It took me about seven hours to swallow 70 wraps of cocaine. I was inexperienced because it was my first time. They promised to pay me N400, 000 when I get to Nigeria.” NDLEA Commander at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja, Mr. Hamisu Lawan said. Hamisu said: “The suspect tested positive to drug ingestion while returning from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
He later excreted 70 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.326kg.” NDLEA Chairman, Ahmadu Giade said that the story of Okonkwo should serve as a warning to others who are seeking to travel out of the country.
“There is nothing wrong in seeking greener pastures but people must be properly guided. Travelling out of the country without money to pay for your accommodation. and feeding is ill-advised. Those who promise job opportunities overseas are after their selfish interest,” Giade intoned. Giade also added that the Agency was determined to investigate and expose the sponsors of Okonkwo.http://newtelegraphonline.com/i-swallowed-70-wraps-of-cocaine-in-seven-hours/