NDLEA intercepts N6.5bn heroin at Lagos Airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced that it has intercepted a consignment of 26.150kilograms of heroin worth over N6.5billion at the SAHCO shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

In a statement, the state agency said the illicit drugs arrived in Lagos in 25 parcels from South Africa through an Air Peace airline flight on June 30, 2021. It was later detained for screening following reasonable suspicion of the content of the consignment.

The statement said a follow-up operation was subsequently carried out the following day, July 1, when narcotic officers of the MMIA command trailed the driver and a clearing agent that were assigned to deliver the consignment to the house of a baron, Tony Chidi Onwurolu, at Okota, Lagos, ThisDay Live said.

The statement said: “During the follow-up operation, Onwurolu, who obviously mounted counter-surveillance around his neighbourhood, fled his home before the arrival of the team of operatives who stormed his residence. They were however able to search his home and recovered documents to establish his true identity.”

The agency also said following the development, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), has directed that the fleeing drug baron, Onwurolu, be declared wanted immediately and his details submitted to Interpol for tracking across the world.

It noted that the agency boss, therefore, directed the agency’s Directorate of Assets and Financial Investigations as well as the Directorate of Intelligence to deploy their networks to fast-track the arrest of Onwurolu.

Marwa said in view of the volume of heroin brought into country by the fleeing baron, the agency would deploy all available mechanisms, locally and internationally, to track him and bring him to face charges in the law court.

“Those who have been on the run for 10 years and five years have since tracked, and are now facing charges while cooling their feet behind bars. The latest one won’t be an exception, because he can only run but can’t hide for too long before we get him,” Marwa vowed.