Picture: Suspect hides cocaine in bedsheets …says ‘I have six children to feed’

Posted by admin Headlines, NDLEA (Anti-Drug Agency) Monday, August 15th, 2011

A mother-of-six, Folashade Agu, 47, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for trafficking 2.250kg of cocaine.

Agu showed the ingenuity of a criminal mind by hiding the drug inside the bedsheets she brought from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

She was arrested alongside two other suspected Nigerian drug traffickers at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos by NDLEA operatives.

The other suspects, Opara Uche, 39, and Chukwuma Longinus, 26, were caught with 1.575kg of cocaine and 500 grammes of methamphetamine respectively.

PUNCH METRO gathered that Agu arrived from Sao Paulo in an Emirate flight with the cocaine concealed in bedsheets, which she put with other materials inside her luggage.

NDLEA spokesman, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, said after the operatives had nearly passed the woman; the way the bedsheets were folded caught their attention.

“Based on that reasonable suspicion of the suspect, examination of her bag was made at the arrival hall of the airport and it subsequently revealed the 2.250kg of cocaine hidden inside four bed sheets in her luggage,” Ofoyeju said.

PUNCH METRO also discovered that Agu, a native of Ekiti State, sells clothes at Balogun market, Lagos Island.

In her statement to the agency, she said that she had financial predicament and was therefore desperate to make money.

“I am a widow with six children. I regret my involvement in drug trafficking,” she said.

Ofoyeju said the apprehension of Agu had added to the list of suspects caught on the Nigeria-Brazil route.

He said that Uche and Longinus were caught on their way out of the country.

According to him,Uche, who ingested 83 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.575kg escaped death by the whiskers. “While he was still excreting the drugs, he went berserk and was rushed to the hospital. After treatment he became normal and was discharged.”

Uche who has been living in Padova, Italy, for over nine years, told NDLEA operatives that poverty led him into drug trafficking.

“I have been living in Italy for over nine years and my living condition is poor, that was why I decided to deal in drugs. I thank God for surviving” he wrote in his statement.

Longinus, a technician, concealed 500 grammes of Methamphetamine in the metal handle of his luggage on his way to Malaysia. He also said that hardship made him to smuggle drugs.

Ofoyeju said that investigation by narcotic officials was ongoing, adding that the suspects would be charged to court soon.

He said that apart from Agu, that would be charged for unlawful importation, the other suspects would face exportation charges.

The Chairman of the anti-drug Agency, Ahmadu Giade commended the officers for the arrests and seizures.

A statement signed by Ofoyeju quoted Giade as saying, “The prompt interception is commendable. Gradually drug trafficking cartels will be completely emasculated by our daily efforts of arrests and seizures. Members of the public must protect their precious lives by shunning drug trafficking.”