*Two other women also in
NDLEA net for concealing
hard drugs in panties,
brassiers and hair wigs
By ALBERT AKPOR
THERE couldn’t have been a
much more suitable
adjective to describe the
action of a middle-aged
woman who threw caution
to the winds and swallowed
an astonishing 51 wraps of
cocaine for inexcusable
reason of poverty than to
describe it as ‘suicide’.
The 38 year-old woman
from Oduma in Enugu State
who resides in Brazil gave
her name as Mbechi
Obiageli Susan. She was
arrested at the Nnamdi
Azikiwe International
Airport, Abuja, on her way
from Sao Paulo, Brazil, by
operatives of the National
Drug Law Enforcement
Agency, NDLEA, with the aid
of a scanning machine.
Though the woman has
since pleaded poverty for
her action, chairman of the
anti-narcotic agency,
Ahmadu Giade, was quick to
disagree with her claim on
the ground that there were
several other credible
means of earning a living.
Illicit drug trafficking
Giade said: “Poverty is far
from an excuse for anybody
to take to illicit drug
trafficking. There are many
other ways of making a
living without breaching the
law. Apart from offending
the law, did she think about
the danger inherent in
ingesting hard drugs as a
pregnant woman? This is
why we shall continue to do
our best to provide enabling
environment to fight this
menace that is fast
assuming frightening
dimension.”
While the case of Susan was
still being analysed, two
other women, Ms. Obiakor
Maryann Okwudili and Ms.
Anene Blessing Iruoma
allegedly walked into the
agency’s dragnet also at the
same airport with a much
more larger quantity of hard
drugs which later tested for
Methamphetamine smartly
concealed in their
customized panties,
brassiers and hair wigs.
Though the women tried to
outwit NDLEA operatives,
they were, however,
betrayed by their body frisk;
and that attracted the
attention of airport security
officials who suspected that
there must be more to their
gorgeous looks. Upon
profiling too, the duo who
hail from Nando and
Igbariam in Anambra State
respectively were
discovered to have
concealed the illicit drugs in
their underwears and hair
wigs.
They were both on their
way to Malaysia via Cairo
and attempted to board an
Egypt airline flight. They too
blamed poverty for their
woes. The drugs weighed
4.5kgs.
Commenting on the arrest,
Abuja airport commander of
NDLEA, Mr. Hamisu Lawan,
said he was shocked at the
escalating rate of women’s
involvement in criminality
especially illicit drug
trafficking. Though he
commended his men for
their exceptional
performance, he also
expressed gratitude to
airport security officials for
their alertness and
collaboration.
Hamisu said: “The drugs
were detected during
routine screening of
passengers. The suspects
are helping narcotic officials
in our investigation. I
commend the level of
cooperation among security
agencies at the airport. I
also thank the management
of the Federal Airport
Authority of Nigeria, FAAN,
for their significant role in
these arrests.
“Miss Anene Blessing hails
from Igbariam in Anambra
State with passport number
A03660604. She was found
to be wearing a customized
brassier, pants and hair wig
all stuffed with substances
which tested positive for
methamphetamine
weighing 1.7kg. Ms Obiakor
Maryann Okwudili, age 34,
who hails from Nando in
Anambra State with
passport number
A01444553 was
apprehended on same flight
with Anene.
She too concealed 1.90kg of
methamphetamine in under
wears. The third suspect
named Mbechi Obiageli
Susan, with passport
number A00288396 hails
from Oduma village in
Enugu State. She ingested
900 grammes of cocaine
and was arrested on her
way from Sao-Paulo, Brazil
with the aid of scanning
machines. Mbechi claimed to
be three months pregnant
and during the process of
profiling, she excreted 51
pellets of cocaine weighing
900 grammes.
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