Less than two weeks after a dramatic drug bust at Kano’s Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, another cocaine trafficking case has rocked the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA).
This time, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA operatives apprehended a 44-year-old businessman, Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka Christian, who had ingested 53 wraps of cocaine in an attempt to smuggle them to Iran.
Ezemokwe was arrested on Saturday, June 7, while trying to board Qatar Airways flight QR1434 to Tehran Khomeini International Airport via Doha. A routine body scan revealed signs of drug ingestion, prompting authorities to place him under excretion observation. Over six rounds of excretion, the suspect expelled 53 pellets of cocaine, weighing a total of 1.172 kilograms.
According to NDLEA, Ezemokwe confessed that he had been involved in drug trafficking for two years, operating routes between West Africa and Iran. His arrest marks another success in the agency’s ongoing crackdown on international drug smuggling through Nigerian airports.
The NDLEA reiterated its commitment to tightening security across the country’s borders and bringing drug traffickers to justice.