NDLEA Nabs Mother Of Three For Attempting To Smuggle Cannabis To China Through Lagos Airport

mother-NDLEAA 37-year-old mother of three, Ezeh Ifeoma Maureen, has been arrested with substances suspected to be cannabis by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Maureen was arrested during the outward screening of China-bound passengers aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) inĀ Ikeja, Lagos.

According to The Nation, the suspect was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle 6.200 kilogrammes of dried weeds that tested positive for cannabis.

Lagos Airport NDLEA Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar, said when asked to declare what was in her bags, the suspect said they contained vegetables and foodstuff.

ā€œShe declared the content of her bags as vegetables and foodstuff, but during a search, the vegetables turned out to be cannabis weighing 6.200 kilogrammes. The drug was packed in two parcelsā€, Umar said.

The suspect, who claimed to be an indigene of Anambra State, said: she usually exports foodstuffs to China and imports female dresses with proceeds from her business. She blamed her travails on one of her customers based in China, insisting that she did not know the parcels contained the illegal substances.

ā€œI am a business woman. I sell womenā€™s clothes at the Onitsha main market. I usually export foodstuff to China and import female dresses to Nigeria. One of my customers in China called to tell me that his brother would give me two parcels of vegetables to bring to him. I collected the parcels at the airport from the boy. Unfortunately, when they tested them, I was told that they contained cannabisā€, she lamented.

Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, advised the public to learn from the cases of those arrested for drug trafficking.

ā€œThis mother of three children would have been killed in China for drug trafficking if she was not apprehended here. It is important for the public to learn from her experience and shun drug traffickingā€, he said.

The NDLEA boss warned passengers against receiving unknown items from people who will not be present during a search.

The suspect, Giade said, would be charged to court for unlawful possession of, and attempt to export cannabis.