The Nationwide Drug Regulation Enforcement Company (NDLEA) has arrested a 55-year-old suspected drug kingpin and 5 syndicate members at Kano airport after three Nigerian pilgrims had been unjustly detained in Saudi Arabia over drug-laden luggage secretly tagged to their names.
The Director, Media and Advocacy NDLEA, Femi Babafemi disclosed this throughout at a press briefing on Monday in Abuja.
Babafemi who addressed the press alongside the Director of Property and Monetary Investigation, Dr Abdul Ibrahim, and the Director of Prosecution and Authorized Companies, Mrs Theresa Asuquo, mentioned that the case got here to mild after grievance from households of three pilgrims to the NDLEA Chairman, retired, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa.
He defined that the households of the detained pilgrims had complained to NDLEA chairman that their kin had been detained in Jeddah for alleged drug trafficking throughout their lesser hajj.
He mentioned the detainees, Mrs Maryam Abdullahi, Mrs Abdullahi Aminu and Mr Abdulhamid Saddiq, travelled aboard Ethiopian Airline flight ET940 from Kano on Aug. 6 to Jeddah by way of Addis Ababa.
How the syndicate framed the pilgrims
Based on him, the suspects had been implicated when six extra luggage not belonging to them had been checked in in opposition to their names, with three of the baggage later discovered to include illicit medicine.
Babafemi defined that Abdullahi had solely checked in a single 9kg bag which did not arrive along with her in Jeddah.
He mentioned that the bags was later delivered on Aug. 16, a day earlier than her scheduled return on Aug. 17, when she was detained, including that very same sample utilized to the 2 different complainants.
“NDLEA’s swift investigation revealed that the baggage intercepted in Saudi Arabia had been checked in in opposition to the complainants’ names by members of a prison syndicate working at MAKIA, with out their data.
“The baggage had been traced to the syndicate chief, who checked them into Ethiopian Airline on Aug. 6, whereas he himself travelled to Jeddah on Egypt Air with three different luggage,” he mentioned.
Contained in the prison community
The NDLEA spokesman mentioned that the baggage had been illegally tagged by employees of the Skyway Aviation Dealing with Firm, who had been a part of the syndicate.
The six suspects are in NDLEA custody with 4 of them already charged to courtroom and awaiting arraignment.
Based on Babafemi, the chief of the syndicate admitted to bringing in seven luggage, whereas one of many suspects confessed to checking in two of them for a price of N100,000, and one other admitted to checking in two luggage for a similar price.
Babafemi mentioned that NDLEA had additionally obtained receipts exhibiting the switch of N200,000 from the syndicate chief to the 2 suspects.
Efforts to free detained Nigerians
He added that the company was already partaking with the Basic Directorate of Narcotics Management (GDNC) in Saudi Arabia to safe justice for the three pilgrims.
“The NDLEA chairman is scheduled to attend a world drug convention the place GDNC officers might be current.
“He intends to current the findings of our investigation and, if crucial, journey personally to Saudi Arabia to pursue the discharge of the detainees,” he mentioned.
Extra insights
The NDLEA director of media and advocacy nonetheless assured Nigerians that the company wouldn’t permit its residents to endure unjustly for crimes they didn’t commit.
He added that the company remained dedicated to tackling drug trafficking and substance abuse in Nigeria, stressing that whereas high-profile arrests and convictions continued, harmless individuals should not be punished.
He counseled the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Improvement, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Aviation Safety (AVSEC), Division of State Companies (DSS) for his or her collaboration and interim measures launched at MAKIA to stop a recurrence.