Mr. Hamza Umar is Commander, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), in-charge of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. In this interview with Femi Ogbonnikan, he speaks on breakthroughs his command has recorded, methods being devised by suspected traffickers to courier hard drugs in and outside the country, among others. Excerpts:

. How many arrests since the beginning of this year have you made?

Yes, what I am going to tell you would shock Nigerians, because it is not a good omen something worth celebrating. If you are fighting a war and you see people committing the same crime and you will begin to ask yourself, what is the problem? What happened? But you will be surprised from January to date at this particular airport; we have impounded more than 400.26 kg of hard drugs. The breakdown shows 97.02 kg of cocaine, 51.01 kg of heroin, 95.77kg of cannabis. But the highest drug that is very new in part of Africa is metampithamine. It is a new drug being produced here in Nigeria and in other West African countries. And its price is twice or thrice more than cocaine. So, you can see what is attracting them to it. And they carry this substance mostly to Asia and Pacific and they don’t take it to Europe or America. December has just begun but we have removed out of circulation 400.6kg of hard drugs in this Airport. When I mean by hard drugs, I mean class ‘A’ in United Nations classified hard drugs.

. So, how many passengers have you arrested since the beginning of this year?

We have made a lot of arrests. This year, we have arrested a total of 111 suspects.

If you are to compare between the number of arrest you made in 2013 and this year, would say there has been a decline or rise in drug trafficking through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos?
Yes, definitely, there has been a difference. I would say there is a rise in terms of UN-classified drugs. Last year, we seized what I would call psychotropic substances. They are just synthetic psychotropic substances, while last year, the volume seems to be bigger, because we have seized about 438 kg of the psychotropic substances like trimadol, a substance that is commonly abused in the North and in the Eastern parts of Nigeria. That trimadol substance is what young guys in the north use to enhance or stimulate themselves. The two suspects we have arrested are still with us, one was in Kano and the other one in Onitsha and that is what gave a big volume of last year. All those we arrested last year are just purely ordinary drugs worth 259.985kg of methamphetamine and 87kg of cannabis sativa, 13.395kg of heroin then, 76.43 kg of cocaine. So, you can see the difference. This year’s seizure is higher than last year. Last year alone, cocaine seized was 76.43 kg, while this year, we have seized 97.02kg. And last year, heroin worth 13.935 was seized, while 51.01 kg of it has been seized this year. Can you see the difference? Last year, cannabis seized was 87.5kg, but this year we seized 95.77 kg. If we put it together here, this year, nothing like psychotropic substance, yet, we have over 400.6 kg of hard drugs seized.

. How many of these suspects have you prosecuted in law courts?

What I will tell you is that every drug trafficker that has been arrested has been prosecuted, but it is only that I can’t give you the statistics and it is because our national headquarters is based in Ikoyi, Lagos, and that is where we have our legal unit. One thing I want to tell you authoritatively is that we have never lost a case, as far as our operation is concerned. We have made a seizure of 400 kg hard drugs and the suspects have been prosecuted, because we do thorough investigation, before handling them over for prosecution.

. You are in-charge of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, the busiest with highest number of passengers; which brand of hard drugs do these suspects usually traffic in or out of this country?

Before it used to be cocaine, but now there is a common drug that I told you we have proved beyond reasonable doubt that the drug is being produced here in Nigeria. May be, you might have heard when our Chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, spoke about the discovery of clandestine laboratories used to produce methampithamine drugs. Now, they traffic mostly in it and it is number one in hierarchy, because we produce it here. And next to it is cocaine and after cocaine, people also deal in cannabis than heroin, because we produce cannabis here also in Nigeria.

.What method have suspects devised to traffic these hard drugs?

.They do a lot of methods. One is concealment, as you know. Two, they do ingestion. Three, they do what we call insertion. This insertion is what they hide in private parts, while some put them in their anus. They also, conceal it in their hair, wigs or fake breasts. You will see a lady and you will say this one is blessed, but there is no blessing in that and instead, it is a concealment method.


www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fake-woman-breasts-is-concealment-method-for-drug-trafficking/197694/

Last paragragh sounds quite scary
And funny too

This is a warning to all these guys that run after girls with big bosoms. They might just be concealing drugs there

Look before you leap

Lilamartedi:
This is a warning to all these guys that run after girls with big bosoms. They might just be concealing drugs there

Look before you leap

That's not going to be a problem at all. Instead, it would mean killing two birds with one stone. I trust guys, they'd do both the drug & the bosom. All join.

Fake things fake body parts,fake women and fake leaders

People tend to go the extra mile sha!

They do a lot of methods. One is concealment, as you know. Two, they do ingestion. Three, they do what we call insertion. This insertion is what they hide in private parts, while some put them in their anus. They also, conceal it in their hair, wigs or fake bosoms. You will see a lady and you will say this one is blessed, but there is no blessing in that and instead, it is a concealment method.

So people can actually go this extent just to make money? Whatever happens to legal n decent way of getting to the top? Must people commit crime just to make money? Even after seeing others caught in the act,people still go this far in crime

*Kama iriju afo dachie uzo, kam buru onu were di ndu *

JoeCutie:
That's not going to be a problem at all. Instead, it would mean killing two birds with one stone. I trust guys, they'd do both the drug & the bosom. All join.

Lol

All they ever wanted in one woman

Na wa o

Hmmm. The Hustle is real

lalasticlala:

You will see a lady and you will say this one is blessed, but there is no blessing in that and instead, it is a concealment method. [/b]

/

BLESSED indeed .

Hmm...Nigerians won't stop

Why engage in drug trafficking,when there are legitimate business to do.

I see this desperation as an act of greed,anyone caught should do the time..

Lilamartedi:
Lol

All they ever wanted in one woman

As in eh... You sef know this.


Ummm, hope say you get share?

I hear

This is why i don't go after girls with "ukwu" and big boo*bs

Issokay

Wonder they say shall never end

.

all women shall be searched.


Squeeze their br...easts for any concealment of drugs.

Twingle their vajinal for any hidden substance.

Yansh pad must be removed for checking too.


Signed

Muhammadu Buhari

Lilamartedi:
This is a warning to all these guys that run after girls with big bosoms. They might just be concealing drugs there

Look before you leap

Lolz..We donot mind even if it housed a bomb..

Yomieluv:
Why engage in drug trafficking,when there are legitimate business to do.

I see this desperation as an act of greed,anyone caught should do the time..

WORD

I see! fake boobs everywhere !

women nd concealment!
all the tight junction nd corners

Lilamartedi:
This is a warning to all these guys that run after girls with big bosoms. They might just be concealing drugs there

Look before you leap

u dy give ur self hope

SuperMartins:
Lolz..We donot mind even if it housed a bomb..

Then you'll get blown away

So na conc igbo dey all dos succulent bossoms wey I see 2day for nnamdi azikiwe airport? Nawao

New methods always discovered

Dumb move that, they'll devise another method aside the aforementioned ones and they'll make you look like fools. Its not necessary you tell us how they smuggle drugs...... #Jeeeez!

Hmmm na wa

Na so