Anti-narcotic agents nab 2 drug lords, intercepts methamphetamine consignment at Lagos airport

By Patrick Ike

Operatives of the country’s anti-narcotic agency, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have arrested two alleged Qatar-based drug kingpins, Eyah Celestine Nnamdi, alias Murphy and Ugwuoke Peter Oluchukwu.

Their arrest followed the interception of methamphetamine consignment allegedly belonging to the duo at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Investigations revealed that the two drug dealers are from Nsukka in Enugu State.

A statement on Sunday by the Agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, a copy of which was obtained by the Safereporters said: “Ugwuoke was the first to be arrested on June 9, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways passengers at the departure point, Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport.

“The NDLEA officers discovered that the suspect was travelling to Doha with an passport with the name Hien Narcisse. A further scrutiny of his black carry-on luggage led to the discovery of a false bottom concealment of two parcels of crystalline substance that tested positive to methamphetamine weighing 100kg.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a Nigerian who had gone to obtain an Ivorian passport for his travels. He confessed that he travelled to Qatar in August 2022 and returned from the Arab nation about two months ago to perfect arrangement for the movement of the drug consignment.

“Further probe led the operatives to discover that his Qatar-based senior partner in the trade simply identified as Murphy was lurking around in Eziani, his home town in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. Ugwuoke, who hails from Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state, claimed that he holds a National Diploma (ND) in Electrical Engineering from the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State.

“A prompt deployment of the NDLEA operatives on June 10, to Eziani, led to the arrest of Murphy whose true identity was later discovered to be Eyah Celestine Nnamdi. He had lived in Indonesia for some years before relocating to Doha, Qatar.”