Ogujiuba Zacchaeus arrested in Lagos airport with drugs confesses

Efforts by a 48-year-old electrician to export 26.6kg of drugs suspected to be ephedrine to Tanzania , East Africa,  has been foiled by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency , NDLEA , following his arrest at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport , MMIA Lagos.

The father of six identified as  Ogujiuba Zacchaeus who was arrested during search , concealed the substance  inside female foot wears.

Two other suspected traffickers were also arrested. One of them, Uchegbu Emeka, (33) , a  textile merchant was alleged to be smuggling 305 grammes of cocaine to Cambodia while  Okafor Emeka, (28 ) an  automobile parts dealer was arrested while allegedly  importing 1.370kg of cocaine from Sierra Leone.

In his confessional statement,  Zacchaeus said that he was introduced into the illicit trade by an old friend.

According to him : “I am married with six children and I reside in Abia State  where I work as an electrician. The ephedrine was carefully hidden inside female shoes and given to me by an old friend. He told me to take the drug to Lagos and handle the shipping arrangements to Tanzania. Unfortunately, I was arrested during examination of the consignment after the drug was discovered. I regret  getting involved in drug trafficking” Ogujiuba stated.

On his part, Emeka, who inserted seven wraps of cocaine into his anus in a bid to evade arrest, blamed his involvement on joblessness.

He said : “I used to be  a textile merchant but today I am jobless. I lost everything due to economic recession and family problems. That was why I agreed to collect the sum of N800,000 to smuggle cocaine to Cambodia. My intention was to invest the money in legitimate business”, stated the  Anambra- State born suspect.

Twenty-eight year old auto parts dealer  Emeka , admitted to have gone into the illicit business in order to raise money to get his own shop.
He said,  “I am an automobile parts dealer in Lagos but I have no shop.

I only wanted to get enough money to rent a shop and invest in my business. My love for money made me to ingest 69 wraps of cocaine  which weighed 1.370kgs in Sierra Leone” . Okafor hails from Enugu State.

Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (retd.) assured members of the public that the Agency would  always ensure that offenders were severely sanctioned to deter others from engaging in drug trafficking.