As NDLEA continues to step up its game in detecting cleverly concealed drugs at airports, on the roads and other places, desperate criminals seem not to be tired of coming up with new crazy methods of concealing drugs.
There seems to be a silent war between the NDLEA and drug criminals. NDLEA operatives, who have been on the field for long and think they have seen all the creative pranks criminals could come up in concealing drugs, are stunned by new discoveries.
Rather than wrapping cocaine and heroine, to ingest in order to smuggle them out to other countries and later excrete them, suspected criminals are now wrapping dollar notes and ingesting same in order to smuggle them out of the country.
Recently, six suspected members of a group, including a bureau de change operator, were arrested in connection with swallowing $156,000 (equivalent of about N31 million).
The arrest was the second suspected money laundering case involving a bureau de change operator in two months. Following the second arrest, the Chairman of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, raised the alarm that suspected money laundering syndicate, which specialised in swallowing dollars, was on the prowl.
Operatives of the NDLEA attached to the Joint Task Force (JTF) arrested the suspects with the $156,000 meant for export to Brazil at Excel Oriental Hotel on Airport Road, Lagos where the dollar notes were being swallowed. The NDLEA JTF Commander, Mr Adeniyi Muyiwa, said those arrested included Nwokenta Kingsley (37), a bureau de change operator.
Others, according to him, are Onwuasoanya Chukwuemeka (54), Christian Ifor (35), Nwokenta Maduakolam (31), Ezenwa Ikenna (28) and Ezenwa Uzoma (33). Uzoma is the hotel manager.
Ikenna specialises in wrapping the dollar notes in a foil paper before they are ingested. Giade promised to track down smuggled narcotics and currency. He warned that operators of bureau de change, who failed to work within the confines of the law, would be severely sanctioned. Investigation revealed that Kingsley was the brain behind the syndicate.
He allegedly supplied $120,000 to be swallowed and illicitly exported to Brazil. Chukwuemeka swallowed 74 wraps of dollar notes amounting to $111,000. Ifor, who resides in Brazil, had $45,000 which he wanted to swallow. Maduakolam, who is the manager of Amazon Bureau de Change, played a supportive role in the alleged crime. Ikenna was hired to wrap the money.
He is believed to have acquired his skill from illicit drug wrapping. The Head, Media and Publicity of NDLEA, Mitchell Ofoyeju, said the illicit exportation of currency by ingestion was a new trend in circumventing money laundering legislation. He said: “The agency considers the discovery of United States dollars in wraps similar to narcotic packaging as most revealing.”
On October 9, NDLEA intercepted a passenger who was attempting to smuggle 23 wraps containing $34,000. The prime suspect, Ozoh Ikenna, was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos on his way to Brazil.
The dollars were detected during screening of passengers on Etihad Airways flight to Abu Dhabi. The money was packed in wraps similar to narcotics and concealed in his boxer shorts. Ozoh claimed that he was only a courier.
He said: “I could not swallow the wraps so I decided to hide it in my underpants. I have lived in Brazil since 2008. I was paid to smuggle the $34,000 to Brazil. They promised to pay me five per cent. I agreed to smuggle the money to alleviate my financial hardship.” NDLEA Airport Commander, Ahmadu Garba, said the arrest was facilitated with the aid of scanning machine.
He added: “The wraps of dollars found on Ozoh Ikenna were detected with the aid of scanning machine. We also conducted a follow-up operation where one Ogbo Emmanuel who gave Ozoh the $34,000 was arrested.”
Investigation conducted by the Assets and Financial Investigation Directorate headed by Mrs Victoria Egbase revealed that the suspects are involved in the laundering of substantial amount of illicit drug proceeds.
“We were able to trace over N226,000,000 to one bank account belonging to the second suspect, Ogbo Emmanuel. The account name is Eternal God International Limited,” Egbase said.
In 2005, Emmanuel left Nigeria for Gambia in search of greener pastures. While in Gambia, he travelled to Germany twice to purchase fairly used electronics.
He came back to Lagos in 2008 and has been dealing in cosmetic business at the Trade Fair Complex. Investigators also discovered that suspected drug proceeds were regularly deposited in the said bank account by members of an international drug cell that smuggles cocaine from South America to West Africa.
Findings also revealed that the cosmetic business of Emmanuel at Trade Fair Complex, Lagos was a mere cover-up. A Hyundai Tucson car was seized as exhibit during the raid.
On July 8, NDLEA operatives caught Ibiteye Bamidele (46). He was in possession of $2,198,900.
The money was seized at the local wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA2) Lagos. The suspect was apprehended on his way to Abuja. He alleged that the money belonged to one Dr. Martins Thomas, a medical practitioner in Lagos.
The suspect said: “I used to work for Ebi Bureau De Change in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja before I established my company with the name ND&C Global Investment Limited which is yet to be fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). One of my clients, Dr. Martins Olufemi Thomas gave me the said amount to take to Abuja. I was arrested by NDLEA officers while checking-in the money at MM2 on my way to Abuja.”
NDLEA said it was in the course of trying to discharge its duty of tracking suspected drug traffickers that it stumbled on the syndicate that used to swallow dollars. Ofoyeju said: “It is no longer news that drug traffickers adopt ingenious ways of smuggling drugs from one point to another without being detected.
Over the years, drug cartels around the globe are becoming more sophisticated in drug concealment. This is due to the high cost of narcotics as well as fear of prosecution when arrested. “In Nigeria, NDLEA has exposed many tricks employed by drug traffickers.
Considering the weird methods of drug concealment, most people think that we have magical powers in drug detection but that is not correct. It is important to note that we have undergone professional training in drug detection. “NDLEA officers combine experience with trade craft in getting fantastic results in drug detection.
Besides the use of scanning machines, sniffer dogs and intelligence sharing, we have made some astonishing discoveries in the course of performing our assignment diligently. “We recently got information that some suspected drug traffickers were ingesting drugs in a hotel room in Lagos.
However, upon carrying out a raid on the hotel, we were shocked to discover that the suspected wraps of drugs were dollars.” The NDLEA spokesman said that equally worthy of mention was the commitment on the part of officers to prevent drug trafficking organisations from the criminal act. He said: “Every officer is happy whenever drug is detected during screening. This gives us a sense of satisfaction and superiority over the drug traffickers.
“The desire to sustain that superiority ahead of drug cartels has remained one of our sources of motivation. NDLEA will continue to press for a drug-free society until drug criminals are completely incapacitated.” On September 1, NDLEA intercepted 7.576kg of white cocaine and 3.885kg of crack cocaine being smuggled from Brazil.
The total weight of the drug is 11.461kg with an estimated street value of N57 million. Anti-narcotic officers have also arrested five suspected drug traffickers in connection with the seized drugs. Unlike white cocaine, seizures of crack cocaine are not common in the country. The airport commander disclosed that different methods were adopted in concealing the drugs. He said: “One of the suspects, Omoluonye Izuchukwu Simon, was caught with both white and crack cocaine in tins weighing 7.785kg.
The crack cocaine weighed 3.885kg, while the white cocaine weighed 3.900kg. “Akubueze Kyrian Nonso (28) had 1.110kg by the side of his luggage, while Obidike Onodyer (40) ingested 11 wraps of cocaine weighing 0.485 grams.
“Others are Onyeabor Maduabuchukwu Friday (35), found with 74 wraps weighing 1.256kg and Ifoh Emma (37) was caught with 34 wraps weighing 0.710 grams.” A few months ago, the resident pastor of the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim at Agodo-Egbe, Ikotun, Lagos, was arrested over unlawful exportation of 174 kilogrammes of narcotic drugs to South Africa.
The suspect, Prophet Michael Raji, was arrested following the interception of the drug at the cargo section of the MMIA during pre-shipment examination.
A few weeks after his arrest, another pastor was arrested at Enugu over drug trafficking. The suspect, Daniel Akintola (43), was found with 1.978kg of heroin concealed in a false bottom of his luggage. Another suspect, Onwuegbusi Victor (48), was also found with 51.5kg of ephedrine inside his luggage. On June 8, a Lebanese, Yves Awad (23), was arrested at MMIA, Lagos.
The arrest occurred during the outward screening of passengers on Middle East Airline flight. NDLEA said: “The Lebanese was arrested with 260 grams of cocaine. The drug was hidden inside his boxer shorts. When the drug was field tested, it proved positive for cocaine. The suspect holds a dual citizenship of Nigeria and Lebanon.”
Ordinarily, bullion vans are for transportation of money, to and from banks. But criminals, desperate to conceal their illegal actions from anti-narcotic agents, decided to hide them in bullion vans.
On November 4, operatives of NDLEA in Ogun State impounded two bullion vans and a Ford bus loaded with bags of cannabis sativa popularly known as Indian hemp.
The two specially-built bullion vans – Nissan and Mitsubishi brands – with registration numbers FKJ 731 XQ and LSR 837 XR, were impounded at Ijebu-Igbo in Ijebu North Local Government Area of the state.
The agency also arrested a 38-year-old suspect, Ismail Adeoyo, in connection with illicit drug found in the Ford bus. The vehicle was laden with “skunk,” a brand of Indian hemp considered more dangerous than the common type.
Speaking on the arrest and discovery, the state NDLEA Commander, Mr Bala Fagge, expressed concern that traffickers now use bullion vans for illicit activities.
He said drug dealers were becoming more daring and innovative. The commander said the suspect arrested over the drug concealment in the Ford bus had already confessed that he brought the consignment from the neighbouring Republic of Benin.
Fagge, who noted that it took a lot of intelligence to foil the plan of the drug dealers, said the arrested suspect would soon be charged to court. He said: “One could have waved on such bullion vans if one had seen them on the road.”
Speaking on the new trend, the Head, Media and Publicity of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, said: “Most of such culprits are persons desperate to circumvent the law on money laundering that compels mandatory disclosure of cash at the nation’s entry points.”
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