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A 59-year-old businessman, Chijioke Nnanna Igbokwe, has become a case study of a cocaine trafficker undergoing surgery to remove 57 pellets of cocaine from his stomach after being arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. Igbokwe had ingested 81 pellets of cocaine in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but could not excrete them, leading to a medical emergency.
The Journey of a Cocaine Trafficker
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, authorities arrested Igbokwe on January 26 after a body scan revealed the illicit drugs in his system. This cocaine trafficker had travelled to Addis Ababa to ingest the cocaine and then board a flight to Beirut, Lebanon to deliver the consignment for a fee of $3,000. However, he was refused entry in Beirut and deported back to Addis Ababa, where he attempted to excrete the drugs but was unsuccessful. After five days under excretion observation, Igbokwe could expel only 24 pellets, and because of underlying medical conditions, he underwent exploratory laparotomy to extract the remaining 57 pellets stuck in his stomach. The NDLEA recovered 81 cocaine pellets, weighing 1.943 kilograms, from Igbokwe’s body. This case highlights the extreme lengths that a cocaine trafficker may go to to transport their illicit cargo. In a separate operation, the NDLEA intercepted a consignment of 2,000 kilograms of Ghanaian Loud, a strain of cannabis at Lekki beach, and arrested two suspects.
The NDLEA recovered 81 cocaine pellets, weighing 1.943 kilograms, from Igbokwe’s body, serving as evidence of the lengths a cocaine trafficker will go to. In a separate operation, the NDLEA intercepted a consignment of 2,000 kilograms of Ghanaian Loud, a strain of cannabis at Lekki beach, and arrested two suspects.
