LAGOS: Vietnam-bound businessman excretes 68 wraps of cocaine at airport

In a statement released today, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi revealed that Nosike was arrested while attempting to board an early morning flight from Lagos to Abuja.

According to Babafemi, “Ibeanusi Solomon Nosike, a businessman from Onitsha, Anambra State, excreted 68 wraps of cocaine over a 12-day period after being detained at the local wing of the MMIA Ikeja Lagos by NDLEA operatives.”

The 36-year-old was apprehended on Thursday, August 8, 2024, at the old domestic terminal of the Lagos airport while trying to board the first flight to Abuja. He was scheduled to catch a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at around 10 a.m. the same day.

Babafemi added that Nosike had been under surveillance since arriving in Lagos from Anambra State on August 7.

“Acting on intelligence, the NDLEA placed the suspect under surveillance after he arrived in Lagos from his base in Onitsha, Anambra State, on August 7. He stayed in a hotel where he ingested 68 wraps of cocaine before heading to the airport for a 6:30 a.m. flight the following morning.”

Following his interception by NDLEA operatives, Nosike was placed under observation and excreted the cocaine pellets, which weighed 1.282 kilograms, over 12 days.

In a related development, the NDLEA arrested another Vietnam-bound businessman, Paul Mbadugha, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on August 8 after he tested positive for ingesting cocaine. Mbadugha excreted 88 wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.710 kilograms.