Attempt by a suspected Pakistani drug cartel to smuggle 25.4 kilogrammes of high grade heroin into Nigeria has been aborted, the Nigerian National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, said on Tuesday.
The agency said the cartel was discovered when it arrested a Pakistani student at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, western Nigeria, with drug valued at N228,000,000.
The drug was discovered in the suspect’s luggage during inward screening of passengers on board Qatar airline flight.
NDLEA said preliminary investigation has shown that the suspect left Lahore, Pakistan with the drugs to Abu Dhabi, then Doha from where he connected to Lagos.
“He is believed to be working for a Pakistani drug cartel. This is the largest single seizure of heroin made at the Lagos airport since January 2014,” said Mitchell Ofoyeju, NDLEA spokesperson.
NDLEA Commander at the Lagos Airport, Hamza Umar gave the name of the Pakistani as Iftikihar Muhammed Arslan.
Umar said the drug was hidden in a smaller bag inside his luggage.
The commander noted that the suspect is co-operating with the agency’s team of investigators.
The Pakistani who speaks English fluently has owned up to the crime, NDLEA said.
“I am a student of Punjab College and I am in Nigeria as a tourist because my friend told me that Victoria Island and Ikoyi are beautiful tourist centres. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the Lagos airport, the heroin was found in my luggage. This is my first time of coming to Nigeria and I had intended to spend a week or two,” NDLEA quoted Iftikihar as saying in a confessional statement.
Source: PMNews
