Officials of
the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport (MMIA) Lagos have intercepted a 54- year- old single
mother of four children.
She was
going on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia with substances that tested positive for
cocaine.
The suspect
who hails from Kwara State was apprehended during the outward screening of
passengers on a Qatar Airline flight to Saudi Arabia after testing positive to
drug ingestion.
Preliminary
investigation revealed that she ingested 32 wraps of substances that tested
positive for cocaine weighing 330 grammes.
The suspect
who hawks tea and bread to earn a living in Lagos was found to have collected
N300,000 to smuggle drugs to Saudi under the pretext of going for pilgrimage.
She was also going to Saudi as a private pilgrim and not as a group.
NDLEA
commander at the Lagos airport, Ahmadu Garba, said that this was the second
arrest of a pilgrim at the airport. One Odeyemi Omolara Morayo a.k.a. Ariyo
Monsurat Olabisi was caught with 1.595kg of cocaine on her way to Saudi Arabia
in February.
He also
added that the suspect, Owolabi Oluwayemisi Modinat, was cooperating with
investigating officers and that she will be arraigned as soon as investigation
was concluded.
The suspect
in her statement explained that poverty led her into drug trafficking.
According to her, “I have never traveled outside the country before now. I am a
single mother of four children. I sell tea and bread to earn a living.
“At present,
I have no money to continue with my tea business due to family problems. A man
met me and promised to help me by sponsoring my trip to Saudi Arabia. As a
Muslim, I was happy but he later asked me to swallow the drugs. I agreed
because he promised to pay me N300,000. I have too many problems and nobody to
help me.”
The NDLEA
Chairman and Chief Executive, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (rtd.), while
commenting on the arrest of Oluwayemisi Modinat said that the agency is working
to prevent those hiding under the cover of pilgrimage in trafficking narcotics.
“There is no
hiding place for drug traffickers. We are prepared to stop their ignoble acts
and prosecute them to serve as deterrent to others. It is even more disturbing
that despite the death penalty for drugs in Saudi Arabia, these criminal
elements still recruit mules on a suicide mission.”
The NDLEA
boss called on members of the public to be vigilant and avoid falling prey to
drug barons. The suspect will soon be
charged to court.
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