Man arrested by NDLEA undergoes emergency surgery to remove cocaine wraps stuck in his stomach

NDLEA has arrested a business man, Chijioke Nnanna Igbokwe, who had to undergo an emergency surgery, exploratory laparotomy, to let out 57 out of 81 pellets of cocaine stuck in his stomach, after seven days of ingesting the illicit substance in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

NDLEA disclosed that its operatives arrested Igbokwe at the arrival hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight on Sunday, January 26th, 2025.

‘He was promptly taken for a body scan, which revealed illicit drugs in his system.

“He was soon after taken into NDLEA custody for excretion observation.

“Investigation revealed that Igbokwe, who claims to be into cloth business at Arena, Oshodi area of Lagos, departed Lagos on January 22nd to Addis Ababa where he ingested the 81 wraps of cocaine the following day January 23rd and boarded a flight to Beirut, Lebanon to deliver the illicit consignment for a fee of $3,000.

Upon his arrival in Beirut, he said he was refused entry because he had less than $2,000, the amount required to grant him entry.

He was then deported to Addis Ababa, where he attempted to excrete the illicit drugs but could not. He thereafter proceeded to Lagos on Saturday, January 25th, with the consignment in his bowel.

“He was, however, arrested upon his arrival at the Lagos airport by NDLEA officers on January 26th.

“After five days under excretion observation, he could only expel 24 pellets following initial medical intervention at the agency’s medical facility and the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Ikeja.

“With the clock ticking for him and the complication of other underlining medical conditions, the suspect was eventually admitted at the tertiary facility where he had to undergo exploratory laparotomy to extract the remaining 57 wraps of cocaine stuck in his stomach after his wife and brother endorsed the necessary consent forms on Thursday, January 30th.

‘In all, a total of 81 pellets of the Class A drug with a gross weight of 1.943 kilograms were recovered from his stomach”.

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